UFC draws big at MSG; Canelo delivers again - 7th November 2021

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NEW YORK -- UFC President Dana White said UFC 268 at sold-out MSG on Saturday night delivered impressive business metrics, declaring it one of the best nights in company history. At his post-fight press conference, White said 268 did $9.9M at the gate with attendance of 20,715. He added that the event "destroyed" PPV projections, though he declined to get more specific and deferred to ESPN. The gate is the fourth best in MSG history for any event, according to UFC, and it will go down as the eighth best in the history of the fighting championship.

Among those in attendance Saturday were ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro and Endeavor President Mark Shapiro, along with a slew of celebrities. The event was headline by Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight title by defeating Colby Covington in a bitter rematch that ended with both men sharing words of mutual respect in the octagon after the fight.

The UFC event came on the same night as the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant boxing match held before a sold out crowd of 16,586 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Alvarez knocked Plant out in the 11th round to become the first super middleweight ever to hold every belt available in the division. That bout aired as a PPV on Showtime, and Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza said the event was expected to be the highest gate of the year in combat sports.

On Twitter last night, combat sports dominated the trending topics, with "Canelo" at No. 1 throughout the night after his bout began and "#UFC268" at No. 2.

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(Sports Business Journal)