UFC
Dana White shocked by lower than expected live gate for UFC 170 "Rousey vs. McMann"
Feb 24, 2014 - 10:30:30 AM Dana White shocked by lower than expected live gate for UFC 170 "Rousey vs. McMann"

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Heading into UFC 170, UFC President Dana White said on a number of occasions that Ronda Rousey was the "biggest star" the UFC has ever had, and that she would be among the highest paid fighters in the organization's history after UFC 170. He also brushed off concerns about slow ticket sales for the event in Las Vegas, saying in a pre-fight media scrum that Saturday's card would bring in $2 million at the gate at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

So it was a shock to White's system when he was handed the numbers prior to the post-fight press conference, as it was considerably lower than he predicted.

Saturday's card drew a live attendance of just 10,217, with an announced live gate of $1,558,870.

"When he just handed me the thing right now I said, 'Are you f***ing kidding me, it's $1.5 (million)?" White incredulously commented after the event (transcribed by BloodyElbow.com).

White tried to put a positive spin on the numbers, as they were higher than the gate drawn by Rousey in her fight with Liz Carmouche in Anaheim last February.

"I just found out. It's a good question though," White commented when asked why it was lower than projected. "Tell me, in the history of combat sports, two women that did what tonight does. If we do 750 pay-per-view buys, it's still the biggest women's fight ever, and this gate, it's still a quarter million dollars more than her last gate."

Penick's Analysis: White has massively overplayed the draw of Rousey. She's a star, no question, and she garners the most attention of any woman fighter in the sport right now, but saying she's the biggest star in UFC history is just so far from the truth right now by any conceivable measure. Them paying her more than others doesn't make her the bigger drawing star in the sport. GSP has garnered them the most pay-per-view buys, Brock Lesnar close behind; Anderson Silva's helped bring in record U.S. gates, and even Chuck Liddell in the era before these names drew more money than Rousey has. She needs the right foil at this point, and despite the pull of "Olympian vs. Olympian," they couldn't sell Sara McMann much as the challenger here to sell tickets in Vegas.