The biggest star in MMA took the Octagon over the weekend, as Conor McGregor faced Dustin Poirier for the second time, at UFC 257. Pay-per-view numbers are in, and it looks like things turned out alright.
Heading into the weekend, we all knew that there was a lot at stake for this card. Of course, there was the highly anticipated rematch in the headlining role, as McGregor looked to replicate his 2014 knockout over Poirier.
Although there were a ton of other important storylines leading into the weekend too, namely the looming retirement of lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Not to mention what turned out to be a stunning debut for former Bellator champ Michael Chandler.
In the end, UFC 257 largely lived up to the hype, with a main event that will likely be remembered and talked about for years to come. Dustin Poirier would find his revenge, scoring the somewhat surprising TKO in the second round.
Related: UFC 257 Purses: Conor McGregor Takes Home $5 Million, Dustin Poirier Earns Career High $1 Million
UFC 257 Was A PPV Success
A Conor McGregor fight is always a big attraction on PPV, no matter who the opponent is. However with the aforementioned circumstances attached, not to mention the interviews both men did, things seemed to be trending in a high direction.
Dana White even stated this himself before the bout, telling Khabib that things were trending insanely high. This turned out to be true, as the event has become one of the highest selling PPVs of all time.
According to reports, UFC 257 has done a total of 1.6 million buys on a global level. This number is a combination of the 1.2 million sales of the event through the faulty ESPN+ stream, plus an additional 400,000 in international buys.
ESPN+ registered around 1.2 million PPV buys for Saturday's UFC 257, sources say. SBJ Media is live: 🔒https://t.co/o6WhouUubY🔒 pic.twitter.com/9ahOJLDMKM
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) January 26, 2021
If these numbers are correct, that means that UFC 257 has become the second highest selling PPV event in UFC history, behind UFC 229: Khabib vs McGregor, and barely besting the UFC 202: McGregor vs Diaz 2. Clearly Dana White’s war on piracy totally paid off.
What do you think of these PPV numbers?