"How embarrassing for Dana White" - Fans react as BKFC reportedly surpasses UFC and boxing with impressive record set at KnuckleMania V

Fans responded to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship's Knucklemania 5 event setting the record for the highest attendance at the the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event took place on Jan. 25 and featured several exciting matchups.

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani shared on X that the attendance for the event reached 17,762, surpassing any boxing or MMA event in modern Philadelphia history. He wrote:

"Tonights’s BKFC Knucklemania V attendance at Wells Fargo Center in Philly is 17,762. That’s more than any MMA or boxing event in modern Philly history."

Fans took to the comments section to express their opinions on the statistics. Many praised affordable ticket prices and high-quality fights as the key factors contributing to the record-setting attendance. However, some voiced that such high numbers could be a cause of worry for UFC CEO Dana White.

One fan wrote:

"How embarrassing for Dana."

Another fan commented on the quality of BKFC fights, writing:

"And the fights are delivering!"

Check out more fan reactions below:

Fan reactions [Image via screenshots of comments under @arielhelwani's post on DX]

The UFC last held an event in Philadelphia in March 2019, where Justin Gaethje defeated Edson Barboza in the main event of UFC on ESPN 2. The attendance for this event was 11,123.

The highest-ever attendee for a UFC event in Philadelphia, 17,411, occurred at the UFC 101 pay-per-view event headlined by B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian, which took place in Aug. 2009. The BKFC Knucklemania 5 event beat this record by a margin of 351 attendees. However, the gate for UFC 101 stood at a whopping $3.5 million. Figures for Knucklemania V are not available yet.

Additionally, Rashad Evans fought Tito Ortiz in the UFC 133 event in Aug. 2011, which recorded an attendance of 11,583.

The recent record-setting Knucklemania 5 event featured 12 fights in 8 weight classes. An impressive nine of these fights ended in finishes, with a total of 12 knockdowns recorded.

In the main event, ex-UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens defeated former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez by third-round knockout due to a corner stoppage. In the co-main event, Ben Rothwell defeated Mick Terrill by first-round knockout to capture the BKFC heavyweight title.