At Saturday’s UFC 257 post-fight press conference, league president Dana White said that pay-per-view sales were at near record levels.
“It was a really good night,” said White. “One of the Top 2 all-time. It’s either No. 2 or No. 3 all-time.
The UFC does not release PPV figures, but reliable estimates for the top 3 UFC PPV events of all time are:
1. UFC 229: Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor • 2.4 million buys for $180 million gross.
2. UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor II • 1.65 million buys for $90 million gross.
3. UFC 100: Lesnar vs. Mir II • 1.60 million buys for $82 million gross.
It appears that White was right. On Sunday, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn tweeted that, “Per sources, early UFC 257 numbers are trending at a minimum of 1.6 million buys on ESPN+ pay-per-view.”
On Monday, The Sports Business Journal (subscription) added further detail – the 1.6 million broke down into 1.2 sales through the ESPN+ app, and an additional 400,000 international buys, at a rate appropriate to the country or region.
The 1.6 million figure would appear to tie the figure for the storied UFC 100, but the UFC 257 gross from the 1.2 million at $70 each alone is $84 million, exceeding the Lesnar vs. Mir rematch. Add in the international revenue and some percentage of the subscription fee, and Saturday’s event could be #2 all time.
This demonstrates once again the extraordinary drawing power of Conor McGregor, who apparently now holds the top three PPVs in MMA history. And in none of them was he the defending champion. Further, the sales came through a double paywall (it requires the ESPN+ app with its $5.99 per month subscription fee). And ESPN+ raised the cost of the UFC 257 PPV from $64.99 to $69.99.
Putting Saturday’s event into the larger PPV context, McGregor is the second biggest PPV draw in history, only behind Floyd Mayweather:
1. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao (4.6 million)
2. Mayweather vs. McGregor (4.3 million)
3. McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov (2.5 million)
4. Mayweather vs. de la Hoya (2.4 million)
5. Mayweather vs. Álvarez (2.2 million)
6. Tyson vs. Holyfield II (1.99 million)
7. Tyson vs. Lewis (1.97 million)
8. McGregor vs. Diaz II (1.65 million)
9. McGregor vs. Poirier II (1.6 million)
10. Lesnar vs. Mir II (1.6 million)
WWE doesn’t make an appearance on the list until …
28. WrestleMania 23 (1.2 million). That one featured Donald Trump.
Fans apparently like rematches, with four of them on the top 10 list, and all were bigger than the first fight. A trilogy fight vs. Poirier, for the title, could be the biggest UFC PPV of all time.
