It’s getting harder and harder for fans, with each passing UFC card, to make it to an event due to the skyrocketing nature of ticket prices. Shelling out $80 every month so that they can get to watch PPV events isn’t something that the average UFC can afford. However, Dana White and Co.’s strategy of raising the ticket prices hasn’t really worked out in favor of their promotion when it comes to UFC Des Moines.

Back when the UFC was a young promotion holding their 26th pay-per-view event, the ticket prices weren’t nearly as expensive as they are now. A single ticket for a front-row seat cost $100.50, which wasn’t very bad, but fast forward to UFC Des Moines in 2025, the same ticket has gone up to $4,402. An astronomical rise as reports claim the tickets have become pricier by 4300% over the years.

Does that help Dana White and Co.? Well, indeed it does, especially when it comes to gate sales. However, this strategy from Dana White and the UFC execs did not work out for their first event in Des Moines in 25 years turned out to have been a bit underwhelming when it came to the total gate sales. The promotion just had an incredible Fight Night event in London in March, where the event created history, becoming the highest-grossing Fight Night event ever.

For context, the London Fight Night event had a total gate collection of $4.7 million, surpassing UFC Louisville and UFC Mexico. But the latest Fight Night event in Des Moines did almost half of the London event, and according to reporter Aaron Bronsteter, UFC Des Moines had a gate collection of $2,476,690, with 15,627 fans in attendance at the Wells Fargo Center. The tactics of raising the ticket prices did not work out, after all, in replicating the same success.

Meanwhile, Dana White has never spoken about the rising ticket prices in his interviews or press conferences. However, he did address the increasing PPV prices back in 2022, and he claimed it’s not his fault at all. Here’s what the UFC CEO had to say.

Dana White hates to see ‘prices get raised’

One of the biggest issues for fans has been the PPV prices on ESPN+, which are at an all-time high. Many fans are hesitant to pay such an amount, and if you’re wondering why, it’s because there’s always a level of uncertainty when it comes to the events delivering and giving them their money’s worth. Take, for example, UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere. Dana White claimed it’s going to be the best live combat sports event ever. But guess what? The main event, for many people, was a snooze fest.

A couple of years before UFC 306, Dana White claimed that he’s not a big fan of PPV prices, and he would have kept it low if not for the executives of ESPN. “We don’t have any say in that. We gave the pay-per-views to ESPN, so yeah, that’s their decision. You know how I feel about that stuff. I don’t love when prices get raised, but it’s not my decision. It’s theirs,” the 55-year-old told MMA Junkie.

Well, we might have to check the ticket prices for live events when the UFC’s deal with ESPN comes to an end in 2025, where we’ll get more clarity, once and for all, about whose decision it was to hike ticket prices. What do you think about this issue? Drop your comments below.