The UFC bonanza at St Louis, Missouri just set records on fire, shattering the norms to become a 2.49 million-dollar gate. Elated with the event, UFC’s announcer Bruce Buffer reached out to the fandom to relay his sincere gratitude as the St. Louis event grossed $2,460,197 just in ticket sales.
Earlier in December, the promotion made a record live gate with its UFC Fight Night event in Austin, Texas, garnering $2.45 million in revenue when 14,485 fans attended the event.
Delighted to see the numbers for UFC St Louis, and static to see the masses appreciating the sport for its value, Buffer couldn’t miss out. Expressing his appreciation, the announcer thanked fans for their energy.
“Thank you to all the awesome St. Louis @UFC fans for your amazing energy & for making last night’s UFC Fight Night so much fun to announce but for also making it the highest-grossing UFC Fight Night of all time held in the USA with $2,460,197 in ticket sales which is an amazing achievement Big Cheers to all the Octagon Warriors who put it all on the line for our entertainment.”
Thank you to all the awesome St. Louis @UFC fans for your amazing energy & for making last nights UFC Fight Night so much fun to announce but for also making it the highest grossing UFC Fight Night of all time held in the USA with $2,460,197 in ticket sales which is an amazing… pic.twitter.com/97By8gIvlB
— Bruce Buffer (@brucebuffer) May 12, 2024
This time UFC has pushed the envelopes to cement a new record as 15,960 fans dropped down to the Enterprise Center. While the last event at the venue was back in 2018 with 10,052 people in attendance, recording a revenue of $812,995, Saturday’s event broke that barrier to top the list, setting the fight night gate record in the US.
The event was not just a money spinner for the company but a significant day for its heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis as well. Lewis didn’t disappoint either, putting on a show during, and after the fight.
The crowd was on its feet when the ‘Black Beast’ laid out the Brazilian fighter Rodrigo Nascimento, halting his four-fight winning streak with a devastating TKO. But the Texan upped the ante with his post-fight theatrics by mooning the crowd.
Derrick Lewis flatlines Nascimento and then proceeds to moon the crowd
Entering the bout, Lewis was clearly the favorite but Nascimento had momentum on his side, riding an impressive four-fight win streak. And the Brazilian proved his mettle in the early rounds, taking down Lewis to gain top control. As for Lewis, he was looking to add another name to his list of victims.
He threw kicks and punches with mean intention. Bouncing back from his decision loss to Jailton Almeida, the 39-year-old broke his own UFC knockout record in a slugfest, rocking Nascimento in the third round for his 15th KO as a member of the UFC roster. Unsurprisingly, Lewis after destroying his competition got back to his usual ways of removing his shorts and realized “his ba**s was hot”.
So he removed and threw his cup into the media row. Well, his antics did not stop there, he then nearly disrobed himself when he mooned the first few rows of fans near the octagon.
