When Dana White and Co. arrived in Newark, New Jersey, for UFC 302, they gave us a banger of a title fight between former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier. The headliner was the highlight of the night, giving fans their money’s worth. Meanwhile, it also appears that the event did a whole lot of good for the hosting city, as it turned out to be a very profitable business endeavor.

It’s unbelievable how the UFC went from being called “human cockfighting” to one of the biggest sporting brands in the world. Newark felt that impact last year at UFC 302. According to UFC.com, when Dana White’s promotion visited Newark for the 10th event at the Prudential Center, the venue earned a gate total of around $7.3 million. It was the highest-grossing sporting event in the history of the nearly $380 million structure.

But that’s not all! As Dana White and Co. return to the Prudential Center this weekend with Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili 2, recent reports on the UFC’s official website revealed another big number. UFC 302, attended by 17,800 people, helped the Newark Metropolitan Area rake in $26.8 million in revenue. As such, UFC 316 appears to be another such economic opportunity as the state’s Governor aims to build “on this legacy of success” with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“Last year’s UFC 302 event marked the highest-grossing sporting event in Prudential Center history and generated over $26 million in total economic output,” New Jersey Governor Bill Murphy recently stated. “This milestone underscores the City of Newark and Prudential Center’s status as a premier destination for world-class entertainment, attracting visitors from across the country and around the globe.”

Furthermore, there were other things to celebrate about the PPV as well. Their fanbase stretches out to many countries, and the data regarding UFC 302 proved the promotion’s global reach. Let’s take a look at that front.

Fans from thirty countries visited Newark for Dana White’s UFC 302

Yes, the UFC is global, and the data gathered from the information of ticket buyers proved that fact. Fans from almost all the states in the US, or 48, to be exact, came to witness the action at UFC 302. Moreover, Dana White would be pleased to know that people from more than 34 countries attended the event, which is slightly lower than their sister promotion, WWE, which saw fans from 64 countries attend WrestleMania 40 last year. Regardless, it’s a pretty big number for the UFC and for Newark, as it brought in revenue from tourism.

Meanwhile, the direct spending/costs for the pay-per-view by the promotion surpassed the $14 million mark; another statistic for Dana White and Co. to be proud of. The event had a total of 207 staff members, or employees, from the city of Newark. In total, the amount of money paid in salaries to this group stood at $12 million on the dot. And this does not include the salaries of the fighters on the card.

Meanwhile, Sean O’Malley is known to headline PPVs that earn big on ticket sales. UFC 292, UFC 299, and UFC 306 earned a gate total of $7.2 million, $14.1 million, and $22 million, respectively. So, he has a chance to do that again at UFC 302 with a better performance, given that in his initial encounter with Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley had a broken hip. Can ‘Suga’ and ‘The Machine’ surpass Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev‘s UFC 302 record at UFC 316 and benefit Newark just like last year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.