Joe Rogan claims UFC 217 tickets are not selling well, explains why

On November 4, the UFC will return to New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden with UFC 217. The card stands out as perhaps the most stacked stacked of the year, as it features a middleweight title fight between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre, a bantamweight title fight between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, and a strawweight title fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas.

While UFC 217 is packed to the edges with UFC stars, however, word has it that tickets aren’t selling especially well. UFC commentator Joe Rogan dropped this bomb on the UFC Gdansk Fight Companion episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

“Bisping vs. GSP, now I’m hearing that that’s not selling well, Madison Square Garden,” Rogan told Eddie Bravo and Brendan Schaub on the show (via BloodyElbow). “That’s unfortunate.”

If true, this is unfortunate news for the UFC. That said, Rogan doesn’t find it particularly surprising. In his opinion, the UFC might have put a little too much stock in Georges St-Pierre’s star power, which has probably faded significantly since his last fight.

“Here’s the thing, though,” he explained.  “If you really stop and think about it, that was four years ago since [St-Pierre] last fought Jonny Hendricks. The people that are into the UFC now, they’re post-Ronda Rousey, post-Conor McGregor, the casual fans.”

“The hardcore fans like you and I, we’re gonna watch that fight, for sure,” Rogan continued. “Like, ‘OK, I want to see what Bisping looks like fighting a guy like Georges St-Pierre who’s smaller than him, taken four years off. Bisping’s got this opportunity to make a shitload of money. And then Georges, how’s he gonna look? We haven’t seen him in four years.”

Are you surprised by Joe Rogan’s claims that UFC 217 is struggling in the ticket sales department? Join the conversation in the comments section!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/23/2017.