Strikeforce Overeem vs. Werdum Live Gate a Fraction of UFC Event in Same Venue

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Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum was held last night in Dallas' American Airlines Center. The event featured two fights in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and was aired on Showtime and HDNet.

MMA Junkie reports that the event drew a reported 7,639 attendees for a $543,060 live gate. For comparison, UFC 103 in the same venue in 2009 drew 17,428 attendees for a $2.4 million gate. That event was headlined by a 195lb catchweight bout between Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort.

Strikeforce: Houston, the promotion's only previous trip to the Lone Star State drew a reported 8,635 attendees but the gate was never revealed.

The dramatic disparity in revenue and gate numbers tells me that running Strikeforce events is a money loser for UFC and Strikeforce parent company Zuffa, LLC when they could very likely run the exact same card, slap "UFC" on the tickets and double their live gate revenue. There may be other business reasons to keep it going as a separate brand -- the Showtime contract for one -- but it's got to gall to lose out on that kind of revenue every time you hold an event.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum