UFC President Dana White is expecting Conor McGregor‘s comeback fight, which will see the Irish superstar challenge undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229 on October 6 in Las Vegas, to be an absolute blockbuster.
Speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter last week, White shared his prediction for this massive Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor headlined card’s pay-per-view buys.
His best guess? Somewhere around 2 million.
https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/1025527552180289537
“We’re looking at two million pay-per-view buys,” UFC President Dana White told Aaron Bronsteter at TSN Sports (transcript via MMAMania).
If UFC 229 sells 2 million PPVs, as White predicts, it will go down as the biggest seller in UFC history.
At present, that record is held by UFC 202, which was headlined by Conor McGregor’s rematch with Nate Diaz (1,600,000 buys). McGregor also headlined the second and third biggest PPVs in UFC history: UFC 196, which was topped by his first fight with Diaz (1,317,000 buys), and UFC 205, which was topped by his lightweight title-winning knockout of Eddie Alvarez (1,300,000 buys).
White also commented on the negotiations for this fight. Apparently, the fight came together very easily, thanks in part to McGregor’s willingness to fight pretty much anybody.
“There was really no problems putting this fight together,” he said. “It’s what makes Conor McGregor such an international superstar. This guy fights anybody, anywhere, any time. After a two-year layoff, he comes right out of the gate and wants Khabib and Khabib, who’s undefeated and obviously destroyed everybody in front of him, wants this fight now and wants to defend his title against Conor McGregor.”
Conor McGregor has not competed in mixed martial arts since November of 2016, when he knocked out Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205. He did, however, compete in a headline-dominating boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in August of 2017.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, last fought in April, when he defeated last-minute replacement Al Iaquinta in the UFC 223 main event. With this win, Nurmagomedov was awarded the lightweight belt, which was simultaneously stripped from McGregor.
How many PPVs do you think UFC 229 will do?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/7/2018.