UFC 143 Draws 10,040 for $2.3 Million Live Gate at Mandalay Bay

Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum (James Law/HeavyMMA)

Condit outpoints Diaz in main event

LAS VEGAS – UFC 143 on Saturday drew a reported 10,040 fans to the Mandalay Bay Events Center for a live gate total of $2.3 million.

UFC president Dana White released the numbers at the post-fight news conference, though the totals will be verified later this week by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The gate total for now represents an average ticket price of just over $229, though that number could change when the NSAC releases its official totals.

The attendance number is down slightly from last year’s Super Bowl weekend card at Mandalay Bay, which drew 10,893 fans to see middleweight champion Anderson Silva knock out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort with a front-kick to the face. That event had a final gate total of $3.6 million.

UFC 143 featured a main event interim welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, a fight that Condit took in an upset by unanimous decision. Diaz was a better than 2-to-1 favorite in the fight, but Condit used a game plan that kept him away from Diaz’s danger zone and worked leg kicks extensively. He won four rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards and three on the third.

After the fight, Diaz, upset with the decision because he believed he spent the fight chasing down a backing-up Condit, said he was through with mixed martial arts. He was scheduled to attend the post-fight news conference, but chose to skip it.

Condit became the UFC’s interim welterweight title and now either will wait until champion Georges St-Pierre has recovered from ACL surgery for a fight to unify the belts late this year or will take another fight in the meantime. Condit said after the fight he was unsure what direction he would go in and would consult with his management and training teams before making a decision.

In the co-main event, Fabricio Werdum returned to the promotion for the first time since a UFC 90 loss to Junior dos Santos, who was making his UFC debut. Werdum swept Roy Nelson for a 30-27 unanimous decision victory.