Workers gather around the final steel beam during a topping off ceremony for the Las Vegas Arena on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Representatives from MGM Resorts International and AEG, contractors Hunt-Penta and elected officials were on hand to celebrate the installation of the arena’s final steel beam. The $375 million arena is scheduled to open in Spring 2016.
Friday, July 10, 2015 | 4:26 p.m.
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UFC 189 will set a record Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with the promotion’s largest-ever domestic gate at more than $7.1 million.
But the new high, created largely because of the aura surrounding Conor McGregor, should be topped within a year. During a fan question and answer session today at the UFC Fan Expo, UFC President Dana White announced what’s already being anticipated as the biggest event in company history.
UFC 200 will take place on July 2, 2016, at the Las Vegas Arena, which is expected to be completed months prior behind New York-New York. The new venue, a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and AEG, will be scaled to fit 20,000 fans for fights.
The highest attendance ever at the Grand Garden Arena for a UFC event was 14,574 at UFC 168. It’s too early to speculate on any specific fights, but UFC 100 is the likely template.
The landmark event in July 2009 featured title fights with the sport’s two biggest stars — Brock Lesnar defeated Frank Mir while Georges St. Pierre beat Thiago Alves — and reportedly sold a record 1.6 million pay-per-views.
The announcement could signal that the UFC is slowing down slightly with its pay-per-view offerings. The promotion has traditionally staged 14 numbered cards annually, but UFC 200 is almost exactly a year away, and only 11 events from now.
With cards as momentous as UFC 189 and UFC 200, it’s hard to imagine cutting back causing ill effects.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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