It seems that the return of Conor McGregor made the box office success that many predicted.
According to a Monday report in the Sports Business Journal (subscription required), ESPN + recorded 1.2 million pay-per-view purchases for UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, which was highlighted by Dustin Poirier’s victory in the TKO in the second round over McGregor in a light rematch. Another 400,000 international purchases put the brand at 1.6 million.
Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie reported the day before that 1.6 million was the floor for shopping.
UFC is not a publicly traded company and does not disclose financial results. The first reports on pay-per-view purchases do not mention whether the company had to issue a significant number of refunds after reports of widespread problems with access to live streaming by viewers who purchased the event.
Anyway, if 1.6 million purchases remain, that would make UFC 257 one of the most important events in the company’s history. UFC 229, with Khabib Numagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor, had about 2.4 million purchases, while UFC 202, with McGregor’s victory over Nate Diaz by majority decision, was good for 1.65 million purchases .