“UFC 93: Henderson vs. Franklin,” which took place Jan. 17 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland drew a sold-out crowd of 9,369 spectators for a live gate of $1.3 million.
It currently unknown how many, if any, of the total attendance received complimentary tickets for the show.
The UFC announced the figures for the organization’s first trip to the Republic of Ireland following Saturday night’s event.
The gate pales in comparison to the organization’s recent $3.4 million draw at UFC 92, and $4.8 million take at UFC 91 — both held in Las Vegas — but the organization has already announced plans for a return to the O2 Arena. The UFC shared its intentions to return to Dublin in 2010, citing a possible St. Patrick’s Day event.
While U.S. crowds typically trump the Dublin attendance figure by several thousand attendees, it would be hard to imagine a crowd more boisterous than that in attendance for Saturday’s pay-per-view event.
The Irish faithful cheered loudly and often, and traditional football — or soccer, if you must — chants of “Ole, Ole” permeated the arena on several occasions. The experience was overwhelming for “The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis, who found it difficult to contain his emotions following his “Fight of the Night” victory over Chris Lytle.
“It’s rare that anybody gets an opportunity to fulfill a dream, and I’ve been able to do it two times now,” Davis said. “To come in here and beat Chris Lytle 100 miles from where my family is from, Waterford, Ireland, I’ve just got to than God for this opportunity — God and the UFC.”
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
We are saddened to report the passing of Gracie Jiu Jitsu creator Grand Master Helio Gracie at 95 years old. He was the the creator of what we know today as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Email This Post
RSS feed