Ronda Rousey and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have exchanged verbal blows over just whose bouts are the bigger draw, but this much is certain: the UFC superstar’s next fight is going to be very, very big and it might just deliver what Mayweather’s last one could not.
Tickets to Rousey’s Nov. 14 fight against Holly Holm in Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, sold out quickly, “as fast as the [Australian Football League’s] Grand Final,” Australia’s Herald Sun reports. Ground seats have been added, increasing stadium capacity up to 70,000 — which would set a UFC record. Tickets went on sale Monday, at prices that far less than those Mayweather’s bouts fetch, the Herald Sun says.
A spot in the gods on level 3 of the stadium was priced at $100.60.
The best seats in the house were $468 and sold out in minutes.
And that’s outside the corporate boxes selling for $18,000 or VIP seats at ringside.
Rousey and Mayweather may differ over who is the more highly paid fighter, but Rousey scored a TKO with her comment that she makes more “per second.” Her most recent bout, against Bethe Correia lasted all of 34 seconds. And she has won 11 of her 12 fights in the first round — for a grand total of 130 seconds. She recently pointed out that she deserves to be the UFC’s highest-compensated fighter, showing that she talks as good a game as Mayweather. Never mind that UFC salary figures are privately held.
Advertisement
“I think how much you get paid should have something to do with how much you bring in. I’m the highest paid fighter not because Dana [White, the UFC president] and Lorenzo [Fertitta, the UFC CEO] wanted to do something nice for the ladies,” Rousey said recently (via Fox). “They do it because I bring in the highest numbers. They do it because I make them the most money. I think the money that they make should be proportionate to the money that they bring in.”
Mayweather’s most recent fight, which he says will be his last, was something of a pay-per-view disappointment. His victory over Andre Berto earlier this month drew 400,000 to 550,000 PPV purchases, according to ESPN. The fight lacked the glamour of his May bout with Manny Pacquiao and couldn’t match it in being a glitzy destination for The Beautiful People. But many fans who purchased that “Fight of the Century” — and there were 4.4 million buys at about $100 each — felt they didn’t get their money’s worth.
“I’m not surprised,” Rousey said of the dropoff in sales for the Berto bout (via TMZ). “A lot of people were [angry] after that Pacquiao fight. Fans aren’t dumb.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JonJqqnK56rbHAnWawqF9nfXKBjmlwaGpiZL%2BwusOaZKunpaiyur%2BMp5yxrF2btqi002agrGWXpLavs4ytpmaalWKvqrOMppiympVir6qzxp6pZqyYlrtussuosJ1lnZbGuLHArZ%2Beql2fv26%2FjKWYrKxdpLumew%3D%3D