According to UFC president Dana White, UFC 251 is set to be a very successful event, perhaps as big of even bigger than a Conor McGregor fight.
After a tumultuous lead-up, UFC 251 is on the right track with a main-event that many are excited about. Jorge Masvidal replaced Gilbert Burns and will face Kamaru Usman for the welterweight belt. Max Holloway will attempt to regain the featherweight title in a rematch against his latest foe, Alexander Volkanovski. The third title fight will be at bantamweight where Petr Yan and Jose Aldo will step in the octagon to battle for the vacant belt.
White claims that this card compares to the buzz and anticipation of UFC 229, which ended up being the most successful event in the history of the company.
The UFC president made those claims during a pre-fight scrum on Friday.
“This is one of the most successful events we’ve ever done, if you look at the numbers and what’s going on,” White said.
“I was just telling those guys—I just left the fighter meeting—this thing is trending off the charts. This thing is trending higher than a Conor McGregor fight,” White added. “The only thing this fight is comparable to is Conor-Khabib. Let me give it to you this way, I’ll give you an interesting stat: our UFC store, we’ve sold more merchandise already, now, than we did in all of 2019. We already beat 2019. This thing is trending as big of a fight as I’ve ever seen in my entire career.”
Dana White says #UFC251 "is trending higher than a @TheNotoriousMMA fight" and "as big as a fight as I've ever seen in my entire career." 😲
Full interview: https://t.co/Jhys9n0vfF pic.twitter.com/VY6UMVJkas
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 10, 2020
