UFC on FOX 30 Draws Strong Gate and Attendance in Calgary

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Calgary, Alberta, Canada, this week for UFC on FOX 30: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2. 

UFC president Dana White was extremely disappointed with the promotion's first trip to Calgary in July 2012, so he stacked the card with exciting fights for UFC on FOX 30, and the fighters delivered. 

Fans turned out to the tune of 10,603 at the Scotiabank Saddledome, producing a live gate of $1,705,686.25 CAN ($1,302,050.57 USD). Those numbers weren't as high as those for UFC 149, the first UFC event in Calgary, which drew 16,089 people to produce a gate of $4.1 million USD. Of course, there are also different financial expectations between a pay-per-view event and one televised on a broadcast network like FOX.

While White was highly critical of the fighters at UFC 149, he certainly had little reason to be upset following UFC on FOX 30.

RELATED:

• Dustin Poirier Batters Eddie Alvarez (UFC on FOX 30 Highlights)

• Jose Aldo Takes Out Jeremy Stephens (UFC on FOX 30 Highlights)

The event started with a blistering knockout on the Early Prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ended with two spectacular bouts on the main card, both of which ended by knockout.

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo battled back from the brink of losing to land a crushing body shot and finish Jeremy Stephens with follow-up punches in the co-main event. The headlining bout was a rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier, which was another back-and-forth battle that ended with a punishing sequence of strikes that left Alvarez crumpled on the canvas.