Will UFC 86 Be an MMA Event Without a Crowd?

Dana White prides himself on staging MMA events at "sold out" arenas.

He has even been considering having an event at a large open air arena, perhaps in Hawaii.

An article I read recently posed the question of UFC 86 not being as well publicised and heavily promoted as past events and speculated that for whatever reason, this event may not be an arena packed success as have been past events (think 21,00 plus at the Montreal Bell Center, for instance).

Could it be possible that having a card packed with great fights, and featuring two of the most personable fan favorites Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest "Opie Taylor on Steroids" Griffin will have rows of empty seats?

The article felt that possibly a lack of "hype" may be the deciding factor in whether there will be a full house or not, stating that since neither fighter in the main fight is a 'heel' or blood thirsty braggart has hurt the vicious rivalry factor that puts butts in seats.

I agree that the fight is not a 'blood feud' and does not feature two fighters set on annihilating one another due to trash talk and previous issues with each other to be settled "mano y mano," but still the fight should sell itself regardless of this factor.

How strange that an event with no other organization trying to squelch its popularity, as is the case with the "free UFC event" being offered on July 19, the same night as the major event Affliction "Banned" has been scheduled for, would be suffering from lack of fans falling over themselves to get tickets.

Unless it is like my situation.

It is the Fourth of July weekend and family is coming for a weekend filled with campfires, cooking out, fireworks down by the river at dark on the fourth, followed by a pizza party and the Pay Per View with friends on the fifth.

Did no one on Dana's staff think about this?  I could be wrong, but it seems like this is a holiday weekend that has a great deal of sentiment and tradition involved, and taking the whole clan to Las Vegas and the Mandalay Bay to see an event that could be more comfortably and less costly viewed at home is simply out of the question.

Of course I am old, not a jet setter, just a retired "baby boomer" on a budget, and out of the mainstream, so this is just my humble opinion.

Personally, I hope it is a stellar event and sells out.  I certainly don't want to put a damper on Dana's fireworks.