July 8, 2016
(UPDATE 7/8/16) It looks like Daniel Cormier will get his match at UFC 200 after all. Former UFC Middlewight Champion Anderson Silva was announced as Jon Jones' replacement on Saturday's card late Thursday evening, prompting a shakeup in billing promotion. Now a non-title bout, the fight will make way for co-main events in Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes and Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt.
Silva's addition to the card has done little to sway the secondary ticket market in the hours following the news. As of Friday morning, UFC 200 tickets were averaging a resale price of $1,032.91, marking a 14.4% drop from the $1,206.71 average on Thursday. The cheapest ticket is listed from $462 in Section 212, down 23% from Thursday's $600 get-in price.
The addition of Silva was the latest happening in an eventful week for Cormier, who was prepping for a marquee rematch with Jones this weekend. The 37-year-old was nearly brought to tears when reacting to Jones' removal from the fight due to a pending anti-doping violation Wednesday night. Now, just one day later, he'll have to quickly prepare for Silva, who has won all three of his 205-pound matches by way of knockout in the first round (James Irvin, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar). Because Silva's inclusion comes on short notice, Saturday's fight will be limited to three rounds, UFC president Dana White noted Thursday.
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Jon Jones Removed From UFC 200 Title Unification Bout, Ticket Prices Remain Firm on Resale Market
(UPDATE 7/7/16) Jon Jones has been pulled from UFC 200 following reports of a potential doping violation, UFC president Dana White reported late Wednesday night. The soon-to-be 29-year-old fighter was expected to fight Daniel Cormier in the title unification bout on July 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Instead, Brock Lesnar and Mark Hunt are now set to headline the landmark event. Jones' removal from the card hasn't disrupted prices for UFC 200 tickets on the secondary market, however, as there has been little change in the hours following the news.
According to TicketIQ the average resale price for UFC 200 tickets is now $1,206.71. That actually marks a .6% increase from Wednesday afternoon's average of $1,198.96. The cheapest ticket is currently listed from $600 in Section 216, up nearly 4% from Wednesday's $578 get-in price.
Jones tested positive for banned substance under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from a sample given on June 16, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky confirmed Wednesday. While all athletes are given a "full, fair legal process" under the UFC anti-doping policy, Novitzky stated that Saturday's bout left little time for a "full review before the scheduled bout". It is Jones' first doping offense, though he has had a troubled legal past in his fighting career. He tested positive for cocaine back January 2015 prior to a scheduled fight with Cormier and would serve a six-month suspension for a hit-and-run accident later that year.
As for the elusive Jones-Cormier rematch, Saturday's busted bout marks the fourth time the two fighters were set to face one another in their respective professional careers. The pair was initially expected to meet at UFC 178 in September 2014 but Jones was sidelined with a leg injury during training. They would eventually meet at UFC 182 in Las Vegas in January 2015, where Jones lost just one round and won unanimously. He became the first fighter to take down Cormier and did so thrice over five rounds.
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One Month Out, UFC 200 Tickets Averaging Over $1,200 on Resale Market
(UPDATE 6/10) We won't be getting the Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz rematch that was expected, but UFC 200 won't be without a slew of marquee names. After McGregor tapped out of the event in April, it was announced that the main event would be a Light Heavyweight Championship unification rematch between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones.
But that's not all. Last week, former Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was announced on the undercard and will face 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix winner Mark Hunt. It will be Lesnar's first professional bout since 2011, and UFC 200 tickets on the secondary market have increased since the announcement was made official.
According to TicketIQ the average resale price for tickets to the July 9 event at T-Mobile Arena is now $1,249.89. That is 6.7% higher than the June 4 average of $1,170.63. The cheapest ticket is now listed from $473, up nearly 15% from last week's $414 get-in price.
It will be the first UFC event to be held at the newly-opened T-Mobile Arena, which hosted the much anticipated "Khanelo" bout between Saul Alvarez and Amir Khan last month. View the complete UFC 200 card below:
Light Heavyweight Daniel Cormier (c) vs. Jon Jones
Heavyweight Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt
Women's Bantamweight Miesha Tate (c) vs. Amanda Nunes
Featherweight José Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar
Heavyweight Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne
Women's Bantamweight Cat Zingano vs. Julianna Peña
Welterweight Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw vs. Raphael Assunção
Lightweight Sage Northcutt vs. Enrique Marín
Middleweight Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson
Lightweight Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Lauzon
Lightweight Jim Miller vs. Takanori Gomi
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McGregor-Diaz Rematch Rumored For UFC 200; Tickets Averaging Over $2,000
(UPDATE 3/18/16) UFC 200 has been without a main event since Ronda Rousey pulled out of what was expected to be a rematch against Holly Holm, but another big rematch may be on the way.
MMA Fighting is reporting a rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz is in the works to be the main event of UFC 200. Diaz defeated McGregor earlier in March in the main event of UFC 196. McGregor was scheduled to fight Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight title, but dos Anjos was forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury. Diaz filled in on just 11 days notice and the two fought at welterweight, where the rematch would likely also take place. The fight helped UFC draw its third highest gate in the company's history and also pulled in over a million pay-per-view buys.
UFC 200 is expected to be a big event and needed a main event worthy and the rematch between McGregor and Diaz certainly fits the bill. On the secondary market, UFC 200 tickets currently have an average price of $2,548.48 with a get-in price of $745.
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Rousey Out for UFC 200 Rematch With Holm, Ticket Prices Still High
(UPDATE 1/13/16) UFC 200 was supposed to be the return of Ronda Rousey to the Octagon, but that no longer appears to be the case. The former champ was scheduled to fight Holly Holm for the Women's Bantamweight championship, but UFC president Dana White told Yahoo! Sports that Rousey would like more time off and will not participate in the July event as planned.
The Rousey-Holm rematch was set to be the major headliner for the event, which would not only be the UFC's 200th major pay-per-view, but also the opening event of the new Las Vegas Arena. It appears likely the UFC would still like to have a headliner worthy of the occasion to fill in for the now abandoned rematch.
It was also announced earlier in the week that Holm would make her first title defense three months earlier at UFC 197 against Miesha Tate.
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Rousey-Holm Rematch Set for UFC 200, Could Tickets Be Most Expensive In UFC History?
Ronda Rousey’s return to the octagon has been officially announced. She will get a rematch for the Women’s Bantamweight Championship against Holly Holm at UFC 200 in July. The event will take place July 9 at the Las Vegas Arena, which is expected to open in April of 2016 and will hold roughly 20,000 for an MMA event, about 3,200 more than the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
UFC 200 was already expected to be a major event, as the first sporting event to be held in the new arena, but the addition of a Rousey-Holm title rematch is likely to increase demand event more. There are a very limited number of tickets currently available on the secondary market, but the least expensive ticket listed is for $824.
Rousey and Holm met at UFC 193 in November at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Over 56,000 people attended and the night ended with Holm knocking out Rousey in the second round of the main event to give Rousey the first MMA loss of her career and claim the Women’s Bantamweight title.
Holm reportedly wanted to have a fight to defend her new championship before a rematch with Rousey, but UFC President Dana White overruled that request and announced that her first title defense will be against the former champion at what could be UFC's biggest stage ever.
With Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor set to square off in UFC 194 this weekend for what could be the biggest UFC fight to date, a Rousey-Holm rematch in UFC 200 could push towards that title too. The current average price for UFC 194 tickets on the secondary market is $985.66 with a get-in price of $409.
