Dana White’s Team Unbothered by Madonna Concert in Rio de Janeiro Despite UFC 301 Having Lowest Gate in 2024

The recently concluded UFC 301 may not have been up to expectations as Dana White‘s UFC associate David Shaw revealed to the media following the event. But a silver lining for the Vegas-based promotion was that they held their own against pop legend Madonna. The ‘Crazy For You’ singer was also in Rio de Janeiro for a free concert, clashing with the UFC’s first Brazilian PPV event of the year. However, Shaw revealed that the pop star’s concert did not act as a hindrance for them.

The UFC reportedly secured their lowest gate in 2024 for a PPV event in Brazil. The details regarding the gate total weren’t disclosed, but David Shaw confirmed the total number of people who attended the event. Let’s see what he had to say about that.

Madonna’s concert did not affect UFC 301, Dana White’s team member claims

2024 has been a year of more ups than downs for the world’s premier MMA organization. With Dana White in charge, the highest recorded gate collection for a UFC PPV event was reported to be around $16,508,823. Meanwhile, the lowest gate collection has been reported to be $7,264,734.

But David Shaw’s silence on the details about the gate collection for UFC 301 has hinted that it might not have been up to the mark. Regardless, the Farmasi Arena was packed with over 14,000 UFC fans.

When asked about Madonna, who put on a free concert on the Copacabana beach, Dana White’s UFC team member mentioned that it wasn’t a big deal for them since they already had their plans and arrangements mapped out.

“We were 14 and a half thousand people. From a promotion standpoint, I think we got our own community in this country… We had already booked everything. We had our hotels, transportations, flights. So we were going. We weren’t slowing down for anybody [including Madonna],” David Shaw stated during the post-fight press conference.

According to a report from Reuters, around 1.6 million people showed up for the end of the singer’s “Celebration” world tour. While it may not have been an eventful outing for the UFC with this PPV from a promotional standpoint, it was an eventful day for four Brazilian stars.

Four Brazilian UFC stars earn post-fight bonuses

Although UFC 301 did not have the same buzz among MMA enthusiasts as they had for some of its predecessors from 2024, the PPV made for some spectacular moments. Four Brazilian fighters secured impressive knockout wins, including Michel Pereira, Caio Borralho, Mauricio Ruffy, and Alessandro Costa, and all of them secured a $50,000 bonus for their impressive finishes.

“We’ve got four ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses to [Mauricio] Ruffy, [Alessandro] Costa, [Michael] Pereira and Caio [Borralho],” Dana White’s UFC team member David Shaw stated. It will be interesting to see how these four athletes get placed on the card for future events and in the ever-changing UFC rankings after their UFC 301 win.

With another PPV in the rearview, it is time for the promotion to prepare for the upcoming UFC 302 event. The headlining act will be one for the ages as Islam Makhachev will defend the title against veteran Dustin Poirier. Will UFC 302 have a better gate collection than UFC 301? Let us know your predictions in the comments below.