Dana White addresses record-breaking $23 million gate for Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere: "I love to break records"
Dana White is awaiting a historic weekend with Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere this Saturday. At a post-fight press conference for Dana White's Contender Series, he spoke about the $23 million gate that the event has managed, which shattered the previous promotional record of $17.7 million from UFC 205.
However, this wasn't the only financial milestone connected to Noche UFC 306. As White recounted, the pay-per-view (PPV) has also drawn the most pre-buys, with eager fans purchasing the event two weeks prior. Naturally, White was gleeful when asked about the significance of it all.
"It's a big deal, especially on a fight like this. You know me, I love to break records. This is going to be the biggest gate we've ever done in the history of the company, and the most pre-buys on pay-per-view ever too. People buying the event the week before the event. So, as we continue to get closer to Saturday, I'm sure we'll be breaking more records."
Check out Dana White's thoughts on Noche UFC 306's financial pre-success (4:37):
The event will feature two title fights, with Sean O'Malley defending his UFC bantamweight title for the second time against first-time challenger Merab Dvalishvili, and Alexa Grasso defending her women's flyweight belt against former champion Valentina Shevchenko in a trilogy.
O'Malley has quickly become one of the sport's biggest stars and has long since been regarded as a spiritual successor to Conor McGregor, who remains MMA's most popular-ever fighter. But with Noche UFC 306 just days away, 'Sugar' will look to leave his own mark as the UFC's next promotional face.
Dana White recently presided over two events with exceptional gates
Before Noche UFC 306, the promotion enjoyed tremendous success in terms of its gates in fairly shorter. At UFC 299, Dana White bore witness to another Sean O'Malley headliner which drew high figures, with the PPV raking in a $13.7 million gate, marking it as the fourth highest gate in promotional history.
Unfortunately, it was quickly eclipsed by UFC 300's $16.5 million gate, which was headlined by Alex Pereira, who soon afterward starred in another hyper-successful event at UFC 303, which drew a $15.9 million gate. However, it should be noted that the latter likely benefitted from being linked to Conor McGregor.