Report: UFC 257 Delivers Huge PPV Numbers as Expected

It remains to be seen how much what transpired at UFC 257 impacts Conor McGregor’s drawing ability. But, based on new reports about how many pay-per-view buys last Saturday’s card sold, it’s very clear McGregor was or is, still a massive draw.

UFC 257 PPV numbers expected to be at least 1.6 million

Before and immediately after the January 23 card, Dana White had said UFC 257 was trending towards being one of the biggest cards in the promotion’s history, and possibly in the top two. 

More recently, a report by MMA Junkie, citing reporting by the Sports Business Daily, says the UFC 257 is believed to have sold around 1.6 million, PPV buys, minimum.

If accurate, that would make the card the third top-selling event in UFC history, behind UFC 229 and UFC 202. Those cards were headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov versus McGregor and Nate Diaz versus McGregor 2, and are believed to have sold 2.4 and 1.65 million buys respectively.

It’s possible, however, that as more data comes in, UFC 257 will surpass UFC 202 in sales. 

Reaction?

Heading into UFC 257, there was speculation about how the card would draw. No one was expecting the event to flop, not even remotely.

But, since McGregor had already beaten Poirier, and because this wasn’t a grudge match, it wasn’t clear just how well the card would sell. For context, the McGregor versus Donald Cerrone led, UFC 246 card last January, is believed to have sold around 1.35 million.

What will be interesting to see, given that Conor has now lost two of his last three fights, is whether his bouts generate this much interest moving forward. Clearly, that will be impacted by who he’s fighting.

Case in point, it’s hard to imagine a third fight with either Poirier or Diaz, not selling extremely well.