“Greatest live combat sports show”: That is what Dana White claimed to stage in the UFC 306. The evening of UFC 306 is set to be special not just because it will be headlined by Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. Known as Riyadh Season UFC Noche, set on September 14 in the Mexican Independence Weekend, it will be the first sporting event to be held at the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, where the UFC has already invested more than $20 million. But can you afford to witness the so-called never-before show at all?

Ticket prices for the much-anticipated event on September 14 have been sky-high. Shortly after they went on sale, tickets were selling for $3,000 at the lowest price on Ticketmaster. Something that might be spelling doom for Dana White and his promotion. Multiple reports in the recent past have indicated that the UFC is struggling to sell tickets for the event now and will have to slash the prices to appeal to the fans. Now one more social media post has indicated the same.

An Instagram video from a week back, Bayliun from MMAonPoint revealed how the UFC is struggling to sell their tickets for the big night, and despite the prices being much lower than before, Dana White may be forced to further lower the prices to help boost ticket sales. Something that surely would be going against the massive expectations that the UFC boss had for the major event.

In the video, Bayliun revealed, “The UFC might be in trouble. They are seriously struggling to get rid of their tickets for the sphere. There’s over 3000 tickets that haven’t been sold. And we’re only a few weeks away. Ben Davis showed the pre-sale prices, and they were absolutely astronomical. And now, just one month later, those prices have more than halved. It’s pretty clear the UFC have priced out the fans here.” 

For context, ticket prices for UFC 306 currently range from $757.50 for a seat with a “very limited view of the Sphere screen,” whereas for a full view of the Octagon, one has to shell out $8,807.50 for a floor seat. It seems that Las Vegas is turning out to be a rough spot for the UFC. Back in 2016, the UFC 202 in Las Vegas had seen a major price cut to fill up the vacant seats.

The main event of that edition, pitting Conor McGregor against Nate Diaz, was hosted at the T-Mobile Arena, which is located just across the street by the Sphere. Some upper-level tickets at the arena that originally cost $365, were reduced by 41 percent to $215, according to ESPN. The best seats, located right by the Octagon, were cut down from by 20 percent from $9,995 to $7,995. Premium seats with an initial price of $2,950 were reduced to as low as $1,850. So can the UFC 306 ticket prices go further down?

According to Bayliun, “If I was interested in going, I’d probably wait a few more weeks because they’re probably going to drop the prices even more. All that being said, this is a well-matched fight. This is one we’ve been waiting for a long time.” But with the slashed prices, is there any improvement in the sale?

According to an August 26 post by WrestleTix, the picture is not good enough. The week before that date saw only around 74 tickets being sold. But it was supposed to be like that. White had a clear explanation for the blistering prices.

“We study this (expletive) like (expletive) scientists. This is our business. This is what we do, and this is on par with the Canelo (Alverez vs.Edgar Berlanga) fight (which is at MGM Grand Arena on September 14), and obviously, this is a one-of-one event. I’m $20 million into this (expletive) thing, anywhere between $17 and $20 (million) right now, and the fight isn’t until September 14,” White had said at the beginning of August. One more staggering fact is the gate of the event.

According to the prediction of Dana White, the gate is supposed to be “anywhere from $25 to $27 million.” That would break the gate record set by Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 205 in 2016, which generated $17.7 million.

Talking about that, TKO Group Holdings chief financial officer Andrew Schleimer had said, “Look, we’re bullish. We’ve talked obviously about this being a cultural event and Dana has publicly stated how much more [invested UFC is] in this event, and obviously this is going to be a massive spectacle for those in the arena and for those at home. On the top side, this will be one of the largest gates if not meaningfully the largest gate that we’ve ever done.” He had outlined the justification for such a huge investment by the UFC as well.

According to Schleimer, the UFC has focused on the long-term impact of the investment. That might seem crazy for now, the promotion is committed to growing the brand, Schleimer noted.

“This event is going to be very positive for the UFC brand and business long term. If we have to spend more than we’ve ever spent on an event — and believe me, we’re doing that — it will pay off long term. We expect to use this event to grow our fan base, to increase fan engagement, and most importantly, to capitalize on the growth area that is the Latin market for us,” he outlined. Then why is such a well-thought-out event at a major arena like the Las Vegas Sphere struggling to sell tickets?

Did Dana White land the UFC 306 at the wrong time?

One major reason why many fans believe that the event can be skipped is because the match card of the event does not look appealing enough to match the exorbitant price tag. Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili can be a decent match. However, one should not forget that O’Malley’s UFC bantamweight title defense fight in March against Marlon Vera was part of a blockbuster gate at UFC 299, which was reportedly $14.14 million. But the other fights do not seem to meet the fan’s expectations. One more factor is there.

UFC event superimposes with Canelo Alvarez facing Edgar Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez is boxing’s best draw. And looks like people might snub the UFC in favor of that. The Mexican crowd might be more interested in seeing their native rather than anyone else.

But it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that fans would also want an exciting match card for the event to be a bang for their buck. And when the ticket prices are much more expensive than another big fight about to take place: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul, it seems better to wait out for now. For now, some reliable ticketing sites offer UFC 306 tickets cheaper than Ticketmaster. And they show some of the best places to buy UFC Sphere tickets online. But is there anything that the UFC might consider boosting the sale? We think there are.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing. So far, the spectators have only heard from Dana White about what to expect from the event. But now the UFC CEO might have to consider showing them what is up there. “Our board of directors and a bunch of other people flew in (Saturday) and wanted to see where all this money was going. I walked everyone through what’s going to be happening, and they were blown away. Everyone is so pumped about this thing. It’s going to be the most incredible thing anyone has ever seen in sports,” White had said at the UFC 303-post-fight press conference.

But looks like such verbal descriptions have not generated enough curiosity about the event. White claims to be a visual thinker. He might consider applying the same theory here. A teaser that gives a sneak peek at the event might do the job for the UFC. Having an idea of what one is paying for seems logical by all means. Would you love to see rather than hear about the event before parting ways with your money? Let us know in the comments.