UFC 284 was just as thrilling as advertised. All the fights on the main card delivered pure entertainment for the fans in the arena and at home. Unfortunately for the Aussie fans, Islam Makhachev retained his lightweight title after beating Alexander Volknovski inside the RAC Arena in Perth. Ahead of the fight, UFC President Dana White claimed that the event was on track to be a record-breaker!
THE NEW P4P #1 IN THE WORLD!! 🏆@MakhachevMMA has defeated Alex Volkanovski by unanimous decision! #UFC284 pic.twitter.com/zpqyy7HKZ6
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
From the opening fight between Jimmy Crute and Alonzo Menifield to Yair Rodriguez’s submission win to the incredible main event, the event had all the necessary ingredients to break all kinds of records. So how many PPV buys did UFC 284 generate? Was the event a sell-out? Did it break the UFC gate record in Australia? Let’s find out!
How much gate revenue did UFC 284 generate inside RAC Arena?
Although there is no word on how much the buy rate for the PPV was, the gate results are here! As per a report, 14,124 fans attended the event and it generated an estimated revenue of $4,086,688 (5,911,598 AUD). It means, the event now holds the highest gate record for any UFC event in an Australian arena. While events like UFC 243 and UFC 196 had gates of $5,478,345 and $6,800,000 respectively, those were stadium shows.
In terms of arena shows in Australia, UFC 221 generated an estimated $2.8 million. Around 12,437 fans attended the show. UFC 234, on the other hand, generated an estimated revenue of $2.5 million and it had 15,238 fans inside the Rod Laver Arena. Hence, in terms of arena shows, UFC 284 remains unrivaled. However, it fell short by $13 million from the UFC 205 show at Madison Square Garden (MSG) arena.
Before the UFC 284 event, Dana White claimed that the event may even generate more revenue than the last featherweight champ vs lightweight champ bout. UFC 205 was the last time such a fight occurred when Conor McGregor took on Eddie Alvarez. That event generated around $17,700,000 in gate revenue. But UFC 284 can still surpass UFC 205 in terms of the PPV buy rate.
In terms of bonuses handed out on the night, Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski was the “Fight of the Night.” Jack Della Maddalena and Yair Rodriguez were handed the “Performance of the Night” bonuses. All of them will receive $50,000 on top of their fight purses.
Absolutely no doubt about it 🔥@MakhachevMMA vs @AlexVolkanovski is your #UFC284 Fight of the Night!
— UFC (@ufc) February 12, 2023
[ B2YB @ToyoTires ] pic.twitter.com/BZmQsp4L4h
So all in all, UFC 284 was quite a successful event. While Islam can now focus his attention on the lightweight division, Volkanovski will face Yair Rodriguez to unify the titles.
Did you have the opportunity to catch UFC 284? What were your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments down below.