Dana White: UFC 162 already has hit $4.26 million gate on 12,400 ticket sales

LAS VEGAS – Ticket sale problems? What ticket sale problems?

Despite apparent rumors to the contrary earlier this week, sales for Saturday’s UFC 162 event in Las Vegas appear to be just fine.

UFC President Dana White on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the pay-per-view event has sold 12,400 tickets so far for a $4.26 million gate. The numbers are early, of course, and will be updated with preliminary totals following Saturday’s event, then made official by the Nevada State Athletic Commission likely sometime next week.

UFC 162 takes place at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and features a middleweight title fight between pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC) and Chris Weidman (9-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC).

The UFC’s most recent fight at MGM Grand Garden took place in May for UFC 160. That event, with a heavyweight title headliner between champ Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva, officially drew 12,380 fans for a live gate of $2.94 million. So UFC 162 already has outpaced both figures.

The current estimated live gate total of $4.26 million also puts the card close to the venue’s all-time top five UFC gates. The record of $6.9 million was set by Silva’s title defense against Chael Sonnen a year ago this weekend at UFC 148. That card drew 15,104 fans. At $4.26 million and almost certain to increase, UFC 162 is likely to move past UFC 94 ($4.29 million) and UFC 71 ($4.3 million) into fourth place on the list.

Along with the main event title fight, UFC 162 features a featherweight bout between former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Charles Oliveira in the co-main event. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

UFC 162 is taking place in conjunction with the UFC’s second annual “Fight Week” in Las Vegas, a series of events for fans featuring UFC fighters and personalities throughout Las Vegas, culminating in a two-day UFC Fan Expo at the nearby Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena’s all-time top UFC gates, as compiled by MMAjunkie.com, include:

1. UFC 148 (Silva vs. Sonnen II): $6,901,655 gate (15,104 attendance)
2. UFC 66 (Liddell vs. Ortiz II): $5,397,300 (13,761 attendance)
3. UFC 91 (Couture vs. Lesnar): $4,815,675 (14,272)
4. UFC 71 (Liddell vs. Jackson): $4,304,000 (14,728)
5. UFC 94 (St. Pierre vs. Penn II): $4,290,000 (14,885)
6. UFC 116 (Lesnar vs. Carwin): $4,053,990 (12,740)

For the latest on UFC 162, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.