UFC 234 Tanks At The Box Office

February 9’s UFC 234 from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, lost its headliner at the last minute. It may not be much of a surprise to hear UFC 234 tanks at the box office as a result.

According to MMA Fighting, the pay-per-view estimates were reported at 175,000 buys. It’s obviously not a great number. Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker suffered a hernia and collapsed bowel at the last minute. He was attempting to fight on his home soil for the second time in as many years. Rising middleweight Israel Adesanya took on legendary former champion Anderson Silva in the new main event.

The fight was a great one, with the 43-year-old Silva proving he could hang with the division’s fastest-rising competitor. Ultimately Adesanya won by decision and earned an interim title fight versus Kelvin Gastelum. However, that just didn’t translate into box office numbers. UFC 234 sold out in minutes due to it featuring headliners with Australian ties in Whittaker and Adesanya. But it was weak on star power outside of its appeal in that regard.

So the numbers may not be surprising even though they are low. Like its live ticket sales, the card saw similar success in preliminary card ratings. UFC 234 prelims brought the highest numbers in more than two years with the aid of a lead-in from the Duke vs. Virginia college basketball game.

As we see, that isn’t always the best indicator of pay-per-view numbers.