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It’s never been more expensive to be a fight fan.
Specifically, the price of watching UFC fights is rising on every level. The pay-per-view (PPV) price seems to grow annually, and UFC CEO Dana White is simply helpless to do anything about it! To buy the PPV at all, fans need a monthly ESPN+ subscription, and those prices continue to grow as well. Add historic inflation into the mix, and well, it’s easy to see why piracy is such a popular alternative.
Then, there’s the live events. Ticket prices have skyrocketed in recent years! Watching fights live and in-person used to be a fairly manageable expense, but now the Apex events sell limited tickets at exorbitant prices, and the relatively few shows that venture away from Las Vegas tend to sell out quickly and generate more revenue than ever.
UFC Lightweight veteran Jared Gordon just offered a little insight into the prices one can expect to pay to attend the marquee UFC 295 event, which takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Both the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight belts are scheduled to be on the line, as Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic and Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira top the bill.
Gordon will be fighting earlier in the evening opposite Mark Madsen, and through his UFC athlete discount, he was able to save his friends and family some cash. Even so, he revealed that his order of 17 tickets still topped $20k.
These are discounted tickets I got through UFC for my fight at MSG for some family and friends. UFC has some loyal fans to be selling out an arena of close to 20,000 some odd seats at prices higher than these, I love you all! pic.twitter.com/nve23hh5yo
— Jared Gordon (@JFlashGordonMMA) September 25, 2023
Gordon also wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t complaining. “UFC always gives every fighter 4 free tickets when the make weight,” Gordon clarified in a follow up tweet. “I know I’ll get those 4 tickets, I was just trying to thank the Fans for supporting us. The UFC has created the biggest card yet and Im on it. So Im grateful for the UFC and the fans. How is that post headlines?”
It’s understandable that Gordon is nervous about headlines. The last time he made news for discussing his own concussion, he pissed off Dana White and saw his own fight cancelled! Hopefully, his insight here doesn’t result in any negative consequences, because it’s a helpful display of just how pricy UFC tickets have become to attend. At these numbers, UFC 295 should be expected to shatter some gate records if it does indeed sell out MSG’s 19,500-person capacity.
Regardless, Gordon himself is looking to rebound from a controversial 0-1 (1) skid. The loss came from the widely disputed decision to Paddy Pimblett, while the “No Contest” occurred as the result of a Bobby Green headbutt.
Insomnia
Khamzat Chimaev’s immigration to United Arab Emirates is proving a profitable move.
Khamzat gifted a Rolex in Abu Dhabi pic.twitter.com/58nBasIfXT
— (@realruebenking) September 25, 2023
Sean Brady vs. Kelvin Gastelum is a match up that makes far more sense than the original Shavkat vs. Gastelum booking.
Sean Brady will fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC event on December 2nd. (first rep. @MagicM_MMABets & @HeauxDat) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2023 pic.twitter.com/qnrCCEUhMK
— Marcel Dorff (@BigMarcel24) September 24, 2023
Jon Jones has pretty much every physical and mental (in the cage) attribute one could hope for in a fighter, chin included.
Jon Jones’ chin is so underrated pic.twitter.com/jYEzT98vT7
— Aqua (@AquaMMA___) September 22, 2023
Demetrious Johnson could probably beat up a Top 10 Flyweight while impersonating another fighter’s stance and movement.
Demetrious Johnson doing some fighter impersonations pic.twitter.com/f87F1RnYAf
— (@sinoUFC) September 23, 2023
If you ever wondered why the Brazilian “Cowboy” Alex Oliveira fought so often, that man has BILLS!
Cowboy Oliveira stats:
– 11 Children
– 7 baby mommas
– 3 of them live on the same street
– 2 kids born on the same day (not twins)The GOAT pic.twitter.com/PkoMr0wci3
— Brandon The Truth (@BCTheTruthl) September 24, 2023
Accidental after parties in the hospital — it happens.
Rafael Fiziev shares a video of him at the hospital with Bryce Mitchell & Michelle Waterson-Gomez pic.twitter.com/swxw2VQweI
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) September 24, 2023
“Robocop” vs. Brad Tavares? Sounds like a plan!
What’s up @BradTavares are you available for December 16th?
— Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues (@gregory_mma) September 25, 2023
Slips, rips, and KO clips
A massive head kick opens and closes this bout …
Robelis Despaigne with a 3 second knockout!!!!pic.twitter.com/JJqOVCElSO
— Fury FC (@FuryFightingTX) September 24, 2023
Southpaw right hook lands with one hell of a thud:
Sounded like a damn sledgehammer pic.twitter.com/p6ZpHMdso7
— Dan Canobbio (@DanCanobbio) September 23, 2023
This is … not great choke defense.
One of the worst strategies we’ve seen in awhile#Eternal79 pic.twitter.com/HdC3ymwFOX
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) September 23, 2023
Random Land
This clip gave me a good laugh. RIP to one of the greats!
Patrice O’Neal’s take on what “Creep” by Radiohead does to white people, specifically at 59 seconds into the song, continues to be the single greatest opinion anyone has ever had about music
— Dashiell Driscoll (@dashiell) February 2, 2023
Midnight Music: Post-punk, 1981
Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.