UFC Fight Night 26 draws reported 12,539 attendance for $1.53 million live gate

BOSTON – Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 26 event drew an announced attendance of 12,539 and a live gate of $1.53 million.

UFC President Dana White announced the figures at the night’s post-event news conference, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) attended.

UFC Fight Night 26 took place at TD Garden in Boston, and featured a light heavyweight main event between former champion Mauricio Rua and former two-division title challenger Chael Sonnen. The event was the UFC’s first on the new FOX Sports 1 cable network, which debuted on Saturday.

In the main event, Sonnen submitted Rua in the first round. In the co-main event, Travis Browne knocked out Alistair Overeem with a head kick in the first round.

The Massachusetts State Athletic Commission is expected to verify the figures and release official totals in the coming days.

While the number of “comp” or free tickets was not revealed, the figures represent an average revenue of $122.02 per ticket issued.

UFC Fight Night 26 was the promotion’s second visit to Boston. In August 2010, the UFC 118 pay-per-view headlined by a lightweight title rematch between then-champion Frankie Edgar and former champ B.J. Penn drew 14,168 fans for a $2.8 million live gate. That event was accompanied by the UFC’s first Fan Expo on the East Coast.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 26, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.