UFC on FOX 8 officially draws 8,967 attendance for $700,081 live gate

Saturday night’s UFC on FOX 8 event officially drew an attendance of 8,967 and a live gate of $700,081.

The Washington State Department of Licensing, which oversaw the event, today released the figures to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

UFC on FOX 8 took place at KeyArena in Seattle and featured a flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson (18-2-1 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC) and John Moraga (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC). The four-fight main card aired on FOX following prelims on FX and Facebook.

The total number of paid tickets for the event was 6,619. A total of 2,348 “comp” tickets were issued. The average paid ticket price was $105.77.

In the main event, Johnson dominated Moraga through four rounds, then submitted him deep into the fifth to retain his 125-pound title. Johnson earned $50,000 for “Submission of the Night” with the win. In the co-main event, Rory MacDonald beat Jake Ellenberger in a crucial welterweight fight.

Saturday’s attendance and gate totals were down sharply from the UFC’s two previous trips to Seattle. UFC Fight Night 24 in March 2011 drew a crowd of 13,741 and a live gate of $1.2 million. UFC on FOX 5 in December brought in 14,412 fans for a live gate of $1.52 million.

UFC President Dana White on Saturday told MMAjunkie.com he wasn’t disappointed in the gate or attendance.

“We’ve been here three times – we’ve been here a lot,” White said. “Any time you want to sell a fight that’s on network television, that’s the way it goes. Still, we did almost a million bucks here. We’ve been here three times the last little over a year.”

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 8, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.