For the first time in 14 months, the UFC will hold its first live event in front of a packed crowd. UFC 261 is expected to take place in front of a maximum audience of 15,000 on April 27 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dana White broke the news in mid-March. During the UFC 260 pre-fight presser on Thursday, the UFC president proudly announced that they’ve already broken arena records for ticket sales.
“Right now, we’re at the pre-sale in Jacksonville. We broke the arena record already,” White told the media. “So I expect this thing to go on sale tomorrow and sell out in seconds. And we broke the arena record on the pre-sale.
“I was saying this morning to people. Everybody’s talking about they’re first, they’re first. They’re not first. We’re first. Nobody’s gonna do it like we’re gonna do it. They’re talking about outdoor arenas, most of them probably won’t sell out. Social distancing, all that stuff.”
UFC 262 will also take place in front of a packed crowd at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. While the UFC’s homebase at the APEX in Las Vegas will always be an option, White says he’s willing to go any place that allows 100% capacity in his events.
“We’re selling out an arena, packed, record-breaking. I’m excited. And I’m gonna go everywhere that people wanna do that.”
UFC 261 will feature three title fights. Headlining the card is a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal. UFC 262 will be headlined by a vacant lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler.
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