Backstage UFC 113 News: Fight Bonuses, Big Injury, Live Gate
– Attendance for UFC 113 in Montreal is being reported at 17,647, with a live gate of $3.27 million. UFC president announced these figures at the post-event press conference last night. Both previous events in Montreal had higher attendance and gate, with UFC 97 holding the attendance record for a MMA event in North America at 21,451.
– Following his injury at UFC 113, Jason McDonald will require surgery. McDonald's left leg buckled under him as he fell during his bout with John Salter, bringing the fight to an end less than three minutes in. On his Twitter feed, McDonald posted the following: "Broken tibia and fibia and dislocated ankle. Surgery tomorrow night." Dana White, who hadn't even made it to his ringside seat when the injury occurred, had a nasty flashback. "I swear to God, I was back in my room when that happened, and as soon as he went down ? I saw that happen before [the referee] stopped the fight ? and it reminded me of 'Bang' Ludwig," White said. "I said, 'Oh, God.' He went down ? not as bad as 'Bang' folded, but same thing. I knew that wasn't going to be good."
– In a post-fight interview last night following UFC 113, Josh Koscheck spoke about his title fight and antagonising the fans. Some highlights:
On fighting Georges St-Pierre in Montreal: "Negative. We're going to Pittsburgh for that one."
On taunting the Montreal fans: "I knew that if they booed me, then I was going to get even with them. I didn't know that the Penguins did beat the ? what is it, the Habs? ? tonight. That didn't go over too well."
On the illegal knee that seemed to miss: "I just kind of got kneed in the eye. I don't know if it was a knee or a punch, to be honest with you. I was on my knees and just got hit. I just tried to get a couple seconds to get my bearings and go back in."
– Here are the fight night bonuses from UFC 113. Each man took home $65,000:
* KO Of The Night: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
* SUBMISSION Of The Night: Alan Belcher
* FIGHT Of The Night: Jeremy Stephens and Sam Stout