(How long have I been saying that Anderson Silva is a member of the Illuminati? WELL NOW I HAVE PROOF, MAN. / Image va hlydly)
Yesterday, Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed that UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 drew $6,238,792.50 in ticket sales, making it the second-highest-grossing live gate for an MMA event held in Nevada. As MMAJunkie explains, 14,574 tickets were sold for the December 28th event at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the average paid ticket price was $428.07. In addition to the paid tickets, 1,076 seats were comped.
Despite UFC 168′s monster performance at the box office, it still fell short of another big Anderson Silva rematch at the MGM Grand Garden Arena — UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen 2, which earned $6,901,655 back in July 2012. Coincidentally, Anderson Silva’s first meeting with Chris Weidman in July 2013 landed at #5 in the all-time list of live gates at the Grand Garden Arena, further illustrating how badly the UFC needs this guy.
Speaking of which, the surgeon who re-assembled the Spider’s shattered left leg says that it could be up to a year before Silva can safely throw leg kicks again. Meanwhile, Silva’s manager Jorge Guimaraes wants the former middleweight champ to take a superfight against Georges St-Pierre when he returns from rehabbing his broken limb. Odds of that happening this year? Slim to friggin’ none — which is just another reason why the UFC likely won’t produce another gargantuan Las Vegas live gate any time soon.