UFC 124 Will Break Records For Live Attendance And Gate Money

Montreal has always been a great place for the UFC to visit and on Saturday night they will break a few records in addition to showcasing Georges St-Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck.

UFC president Dana White announced on Thursday that UFC 124 will break both the attendance record for the Bell Centre and the worldwide gate for mixed martial arts with the show Saturday night.

“This is a huge fight for us. We’re breaking the North American record for attendance in the building with over 23,000 and we’re breaking the gate worldwide for mixed martial arts which will be over $5 million dollars,” said White.

Currently, the UFC holds both records with UFC 97: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2 capping the attendance record for the Bell Centre, and UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2, which currently holds the gate record for an MMA show.

White expects the raucous crowd to be live and in living color on Saturday when both challenger Josh Koscheck and champion Georges St-Pierre hit the Octagon.

“I think this is going to be a war on Saturday night with 23,000 plus people who hate (Josh Koscheck) and 23,000 plus people who love Georges St-Pierre. The atmosphere’s going to be insane here on Saturday night,” White commented.

UFC 124 may have a short lived shelf life as the biggest show however with the UFC’s announcement of their show upcoming in Toronto in April 2011. The Rogers Centre caps holds approximately 69,000 plus fans and even if the UFC sections off some of the seats, expect that show to shatter attendance and gate records.