Dana White wanted to see how far he could push his production team, prompting the promoter to announce that the second edition of Noche UFC would take place inside Las Vegas’s $2.3 billion piece of magnificent architecture, the Sphere. It’s always exciting to try something fresh and new, but the UFC CEO’s attempt to put on the “greatest live combat sports show” may end up being one of his biggest flops.

It didn’t take much time for Dana White to announce that they would return for another event on Mexican Independence Day when the inaugural event, which was a Fight Night event, was well received and did great from the financial point of view. This time, the 55-year-old set up a PPV event at the most talked about arena in the whole world, and less than two weeks from the event, certain obstacles started to pop up, starting with ticket sales.

Dana White is in trouble with poor UFC 306 ticket sales as prices go down

UFC ticket prices have always been frustrating for fans due to its steepness. For UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche UFC, things aren’t any different because when Dana White announced the ticket price over a month ago, the costliest tickets were priced at a whopping $17,507, while the cheapest tickets were priced at $3,000. However, some reports from a few days back suggested that the Sphere event is struggling to sell tickets.

While the majority of the UFC 306 tickets were sold, there were still 2,929 tickets left unsold, which apparently brought the UFC to such a position that they had to pipe down the prices a bit. As it stands, the expensive seats, apart from the Verified Resale Ticket, which is valued at $99,000, have dropped down to $8,807 while the price of the cheap seats has gone down to three figures, $757 to be exact.

So why are ticket sales getting affected even when Dana White promised a show to remember? Well, there are a couple of immediate reasons at hand and the first one that comes to mind is the fact that UFC 306 is competing with the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez‘s big-time fight on the same date.

Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga is gaining more traction than UFC 306

Over a month ago, HE Turki Alalshikh, who once fired a shot at Canelo Alvarez for taking easy fights, confidently claimed that UFC 306 would “eat” his PPV against Edgar Berlanga. Although Dana White recently rebuked any rumors about a rivalry with the undisputed boxing champion, The GEA’s chairman clearly points out that he wants to outdo Alvarez with the September 14th event. However, ‘Saul’ has turned the tables as reports claim his event is close to being sold out.

If we talk about what fans think about both events, they are not that big of a fan of the UFC 306 card. Most fans believe that the headliner between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili is the only fight they want to see, and that’s why the ticket prices aren’t justified. On the other hand, some fans blame Dana White for all the problems that the upcoming PPV is facing at this moment. Some fans even called for Max Holloway to fight featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who has been set to be the UFC 308 headliner. And that’s been the main problem for UFC 306, which is the lack of big stars.

Lack of big stars in the biggest UFC event ever

A promoter would also want to get fan-favorite fighters involved whenever there’s a big event in place, and that’s why Dana White started playing matchmaker for the UFC 306 card. Conor McGregor wanted to fight at the Sphere and he rallied for it after his June 29 return failed to happen. That sentiment was echoed by his opponent, Michael Chandler as well.

“Sphere would be great… That would be massive. It sounds to me like it’s going to be a one-and-done type of event,” Michael Chandler told ‘MMA Junkie’. But Dana White seems to want Conor McGregor to sit out this year. He claims that ‘The Notorious’ will not compete in 2024. This leaves us with the only other superstar, Jon Jones. After months out of action due to a shoulder injury, ‘Bones’ seems ready for the fight against Stipe Miocic, which he has hinted to be his last.

Although there’s this fight against Tom Aspinall, the interim champion, that everybody wants to see, it would not have been a surprise to see Jon Jones capping off his career at the biggest UFC event to date. However, as per Dana White’s recent statements about the 27-1 legend, the heavyweight champion might be headlining the Madison Square Garden in November, although we don’t have any official confirmation in that regard.

With such low expectations of fans from UFC 306, their reluctance to pay for the tickets may lead to the event underperforming financially. Despite such setbacks, Turki Alalshikh is confident that this event will do great numbers, as per his recent statement. What do you have to say about the Sphere PPV? Drop your comments below.