UFC 134: Rio Sells Out In 74 Minutes

The UFC sold out its long-awaited return to Brazil in just 74 minutes.

All 16,572 tickets for the UFC 134 – which takes place Aug. 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro – were sold quickly. The UFC has not been back to Brazil since UFC: Ultimate Brazil took place in 1998. That event – headlined by a bout between Frank Shamrock and John Lober – took place in Sao Paolo. Vitor Belfort also blitzed Wanderlei Silva on the card, defeating him via TKO in just 44 seconds.

Many years have passed since that original showing in Brazil. The UFC was purchased from the original owners by Zuffa and went on to become a worldwide phenomenon instead of the niche pay per view product it was in those days. Nearly the entire sport has consolidated under the UFC banner, and now the company is ready to return to the place many consider to be the home of mixed martial arts.

The quick sellout is all the more impressive when you consider that the cheapest tickets sold for $160 American – roughly $60 higher than the typical baseline for UFC tickets.

UFC 134 is headlined by a middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami. Other notable Brazilians on the card include Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.