UFC on Versus 2 officially headed to San Diego, poor ticket sales prompt move
As expected UFC on Versus 2 will move from Salt Lake City to San Diego, Ultimate Fighting Championship officials today announced.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) passed along news of the possible move within the past hour, though the reason wasn't immediately known.
However, in a press release distributed by the UFC, company president Dana White cited poor ticket sales as the reason.
"Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong, and when we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales," he stated. "As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to pull the plug and move this Aug. 1 event to the San Diego Sports Arena."
However, Bill Colbert of the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission could only speculate on the reason.
"They didn't give a particular reason," he said. "I imagine that it has to do with the demographics and ticket sales. Having an event on Sunday may work for a (NBA's Utah) Jazz game, but it's not going to work for an MMA event. "
"It's not the best news we've had in a while."
Nearly half of Utah's residents are members of the Mormon Church, which traditionally uses Sundays (on which UFC on Versus 2 falls) as its worship day.
Regardless, Colbert is hopeful the organization will consider a future show in the state.
"(UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs) Marc (Ratner) said he's committed to working with us in the future," he said. "I hope they don't look at Sunday sales being a negative on Utah. I try to keep it positive, and we'll keep talking to him and encourage him to come back here.
"[It] is unfortunate and sad. We'd hope to see them back, hopefully on a Saturday. Wherever it moves to, it will be highly watched in Utah homes."
Fans who purchased tickets tickets for the show, which was slated for EnergySolutions Arena, can get refunds at their point of purchase. Tickets bought at a Smith's Tix outlet or the EnergySolutions Arena Box Office must be returned to the same location for a refund. All phone and Internet purchases through Smith's Tix will be automatically refunded to the credit card used on the transaction. The per-order handling fee is nonrefundable.
Tickets for the 19,000-seat San Diego Sports Arena go on sale to UFC Fight Club members on Thursday (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT), UFC.com newsletter subscribers on Friday (4 p.m. ET) and the general public on Saturday (1 p.m. ET). They range from $40 to $250.
UFC on Versus 2, which is the second of two UFC events contractually slated to air on Versus in 2010, features fights such as Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko, Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami, and Takanori Gomi vs. Joe Stevenson.
The UFC's lone San Diego event came in 2006, when the organization hosted UFC Fight Night 7 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
