It’s one Saturday after another for UFC as we approach yet another event in the form of a Fight Night. Knockout king Derrick Lewis will make his return to the Octagon against Tallison Teixeira after an eventful win over Rodrigo Nascimento in his last Fight Night headliner. Dana White and Co. decided to come out of the Apex for this one and host it in Nashville, but it seems like their efforts haven’t paid off, as the event is facing a crucial ticket sales issue.

Well, UFC Nashville has a few fan favorites, including ‘The Black Beast’ and Stephen Thompson, but there’s an issue. Fans have often complained about Dana White and Co.’s tactics regarding the pricing of UFC event tickets in the past, and it seems like the promotion is now dealing with the effects. But with less than 48 hours to go for the Fight Night event, it seems like the ticket prices are fairly expensive given that it’s not a PPV. According to Ticket Master, UFC Fight Night: Lewis v. Teixeira has the highest ticket price at $3903.15, while the lowest ticket price is around $102.40.

As a result, it appears that the card Dana White has presented for the Nashville event is lacking a bit of hype. As we approach Saturday night, the UFC CEO and the other execs are witnessing that a lot of the seats are still available and unsold. There were seats available in the second row between the fighter’s entrance and exit areas and on the opposite side of the entrance area as well. Most of the top(third) row had between 60 and 100+ seats, in each section, still available for purchase. Most of the first row still had between 10 and 30 seats left in each section of the 17,000-18,000 huge Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, up for grabs.

Moreover, the cheaper seats, located on the edge of the arena, were almost visibly empty. Though they are still up for grabs, for clarity, the Standard Admission and the Verified Resale Tickets were the ones that have remained largely unsold. This could be a concerning issue for the Las Vegas-based promotion, but we still have some time to go before we get to the Derrick Lewis and Fight Night. Last-minute rush may see the tickets vanish quickly on the day of the event.

Dana White and Co. have often been criticized for their pricing tactics, claiming that Fight Night is being treated as a PPV event. Moreover, their high ESPN+ pricing for PPVs has also caused an uproar among fans. Meanwhile, the ticket sales problem persists because one of the recent PPV events also found itself in a predicament before the action commenced.

UFC 315 tickets also plummeted days before the PPV

Belal Muhammad‘s wrestling-heavy fighting style doesn’t always translate into an exciting affair inside the Octagon, but at UFC 315, he brought the fight. ‘Remember the Name’ showed the fans that he can put up an entertaining show as well, and for many, that is exactly what Muhammad did, although he dropped the welterweight belt to Jack Della Maddalena. However, the lack of hype for the PPV was evident because ticket sales plummeted hard just days before the show.

It was another case of half of the seats in the Bell Centre in Montreal remaining unsold. Although the card didn’t have anyone like an Alex Pereira or an Ilia Topuria, it did have some credible names like UFC legend Jose Aldo, UFC champ Valentina Shevchenko, among others. However, it was still not enough to get the fans as excited as they hoped to be. Dana White might have to make some changes to their business tactics if this keeps becoming a recurring theme for UFC events.

Thankfully, UFC Nashville isn’t struggling as much as UFC 315 did days before the event. However, it does raise some serious concerns about people not buying tickets until the last minute. With a so-called recession going on in the sport due to the lack of stars, do you think Dana White and Co. should make some changes to their approach to Fight Night and PPV events? Drop your comments below.