UFC Fight Night 28 Draws 5,126 Fans; UFC Shooting for “Intimate” Wednesday Night Venues

UFC on Fight Night 28: Teixeira vs. Bader drew an audience of 5,126 fans to Mineirinho Arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

UFC executive Marshall Zelaznik announced the total at the post-fight press conference. The gate receipts were not announced.

That’s a rather small draw for Mineirinho Arena, which held 16,643 fans for UFC 147 last year. That event, however, was on a Saturday night and featured Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin as the night’s main event.

UFC Fight Night 28 had the challenge of being on a Wednesday night to facilitate the new Fox Sports 1 channel in the United States. FS1 is counting on a block of UFC programming each week to anchor its Wednesday night offerings.

Wednesday night’s are good for television, but obviously a difficult night to draw a large live crowd out to an arena.

“We know that Wednesday’s are a challenge for people,” said Zelaznik. “It’s the middle of the work week. Our events are a little bit early and they maybe run a little late, so we are looking for smaller venues.

“We want them to be intimate experiences for people. We think we delivered that tonight. We think Indianapolis delivered that and that’s our plan is to make the events seem a little more special for people.”