Noche UFC going head-to-head with Canelo again — this time in Mexico

Neglect The Sphere. Neglect Las Vegas. Neglect U.S.A. This yr’s Noche UFC lastly headed to Mexico.

Throughout Saturday’s UFC on ESPN: Moreno vs. Erceg occasion at Area CDMX in Mexico Metropolis, the UFC introduced that they might be making their debut in Guadalajara for a 3rd Mexican Independence Day spectacular on September thirteenth.

The occasion might be held on the new Area Guadalajara, which might maintain as much as 22,000 followers. The one query: can UFC fill it when going head-to-head with the town’s hometown hero Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who is anticipated to battle the identical weekend?

A number of studies have Canelo Alvarez preventing Terence “Bud” Crawford in September, and it will be loopy to have him compete then and miss Mexican Independence Day. A few of Canelo’s largest profession fights have been on that date, together with his bout in opposition to Floyd Mayweather and all three fights in his trilogy with Gennady Golovkin.

In 2024, Alvarez fought a sport however outmatched Edgar Berlanga in an occasion that was direct competitors with the UFC’s second Noche UFC occasion in Las Vegas. That UFC card at The Sphere — the costliest occasion the UFC has ever produced — did extraordinarily nicely, but it surely was certainly not a certain wager with Canelo preventing down the road.

Some tickets for Noche UFC 2 went from an eye-watering $3000 right down to $500. There’s part of that which has to do with the present means UFC mum or dad firm TKO sells tickets. Each occasion is priced as excessive as attainable at first after which introduced down till the market can bear it. However the market might solely bear a lot with Canelo in Vegas as nicely.

In the long run, UFC introduced UFC 306 aka Riyadh Season Noche UFC aka The Sphere occasion was the best grossing UFC gate ever at $22 million. To do this, UFC sank over $15 million into manufacturing and put their largest lively star, Sean O’Malley, into the principle occasion. Canelo vs. Berlanga drew a $17 million gate and 650,000 pay-per-views off Canelo simply displaying up.

Now the UFC might be making an attempt to promote out a 22,000 seat enviornment in Guadalajara the place Canelo was born on the identical date Canelo will battle Crawford. With out the glitz and glamor of The Sphere to assist them discover an viewers, can UFC pull this off?

Even in a time when the promotion appears to promote out in every single place it goes with the flimsiest of playing cards, we have now our doubts — however gained’t be shocked in the event that they succeed but once more.