According to Justin Goff of MMA Betting Blog:
Brett Hanson, PR representative for Bodog, stated to MMABettingBlog.com that "UFC 80 surprisingly exceeded our expectations. This card was not high on star power, but after all the betting was said and done we only saw about a 7% drop in overall betting action from the last non U.S. based UFC fight (UFC 75)". UFC 75 was a highly touted and star studded fight card which had a large betting draw from U.S. bettors.
Nick Kalikas, head oddsmaker for the BetCRIS sportsbook network, stated that "UFC 77, 78 and 79 (all U.S. events) had only about 20% more betting action than UFC 80." He also stated that "Even though their was a slight decline in overall action for the International event, the numbers are very promising. The popularity of UFC wagering continues to grow and pick up steam with every event."
Besides being a non U.S. based event, there was also one of the bigger boxing matches of the year going on Saturday night with Roy Jones Jr. taking on Felix Trinidad. In regards to boxing, Kalekis also said that "With the exception of boxing's mega fights such as Jones/Trinidad and De La Hoya/Mayweather, the UFC has surpassed boxing in overall action on a consistent basis."
I wonder if that's going to carry over into UFC 81. Certainly the star power is greater, but with so many unknowns, are people going to be that likely to plop down coin? My hunch is yes, provided the odds are grossly in Lesnar's favor.