At the beginning of the year, things weren't looking so hot -- as far as ticket sales were concerned -- for the historic UFC 157 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which is set to go down this weekend (Feb. 23, 2013) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Back on Jan. 3, estimated ticket sales for the first-ever UFC women's title fight between current bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche were around 5,000.

The numbers, at that point in time, weren't looking promising, considering the Honda Center can accommodate over 18,000 fans. But, according to UFC President Dana White, the event is just about sold out with only a few "cheap seats" remaining to reach the goal.

He revealed the numbers at yesterday's (Feb. 21, 2013) UFC 157 press conference:

"We're a few hundred tickets from a sellout. And, the gate is so big because the tickets remaining are all the cheap seats, which is very unusual. Usually we get in these situations and it's more the middle tier seats that are still there. These are the cheapest seats in the place. This is going to be a sellout."

No trouble in paradise here as it seems all the media attention Rousey has garnered for her first title defense is apparently paying off at the bank, topping the UFC on FOX 1 gate which hosted a heavyweight title fight between Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez. But will the PPV numbers be on par, too?

According to White, it sure looks that way:

"This is without a doubt the most media attention we've ever had before a fight. And when I am talking about media attention, I'm talking big time media. This gate beat the gate last time we were here when we had the heavyweight championship between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. I know there was a lot of smack talk initially when I announced this fight with headlining two women, well, this gate is bigger. There is all this talk about pay-per-view buys and how women would do, I just talked to Lorenzo and this fight is trending very well. So, to all the naysayers who said this and that about two women headlining a fight, I won't be rude, but, you know what I usually say about this.

UFC 157 will also feature a light heavyweight showdown between two seasoned veterans as Lyoto Machida takes on Dan Henderson in the co-main event for a shot at the promotion's 205-pound title.

How about it Maniacs, are any of you adding to the live gate total or PPV buys for this historic event?