UFC 257 does 1.6M PPV Buys via Sports Business Journal

[TheCell8]

Conor proves once again that he has no equals in the combat sports world.

According to a report from the Sports Business Journal, the card headlined by Dustin Poirier's second-round knockout against Irish superstar Conor McGregor sold 1.2 million pay-per-views domestically in the United States with an additional 400,000 buys internationally.

That brings UFC 257 to 1.6 million buys in total, which would make the event one of the top three selling pay-per-view cards of all time for the promotion.

The highest selling card of all-time remains UFC 229, which featured McGregor in the main event against Khabib Nurmagomedov with that event crushing all previous records with 2.4 million buys. The second-highest card of all time was UFC 202, which saw McGregor exact his revenge against Nate Diaz in a hotly contested rematch that sold around 1.6 million buys.

[F l i c k e r]

So the biggest draw the UFC has is still Conor McGregor.

Idk about now, this loss probably took a lot of stock out of Conor but the UFC can do some due diligence in promoting tf out of Dustin now.

They don't do too much promoting of anyone. Outside of Chuck, Franklin, Griffin, and Jon. I don't think the UFC has gone out of their way for anyone in their stable.

But they should ride that wave on Dustin. Promote tf out of him. He's a legend killer, this-and-that, so on and so forth.

[Zaryu]

That's pretty amazing, good for the UFC.

[MMA Van]

That's why he is the GOAT.

[Eff Pandas]

So the biggest draw the UFC has is still Conor McGregor.

Idk about now, this loss probably took a lot of stock out of Conor but the UFC can do some due diligence in promoting tf out of Dustin now.

They don't do too much promoting of anyone. Outside of Chuck, Franklin, Griffin, and Jon. I don't think the UFC has gone out of their way for anyone in their stable.

But they should ride that wave on Dustin. Promote tf out of him. He's a legend killer, this-and-that, so on and so forth.

I don't think the UFC promotes ANYONE really. You either got a sellable personality or you don't. And unlike in boxing you gotta keep fighting high level guys & win those fights to stay at the top.

I mean look at someone like PVZ. Obviously she wasn't on the Conor or Ronda level, but she was popular enough to parlay her UFC career into many opportunities outside of MMA & she couldn't win enough fights & however popular she was she's fooking not even in the UFC now lol.

They chew you up & spit you out in the UFC. I actually agree with that model more than boxing's model cuz its the model most every other sports use, but it for sure devalues athletes quicker & minimizes their time at the top.

[F l i c k e r]

I don't think the UFC promotes ANYONE really. You either got a sellable personality or you don't. And unlike in boxing you gotta keep fighting high level guys & win those fights to stay at the top.

I mean look at someone like PVZ. Obviously she wasn't on the Conor or Ronda level, but she was popular enough to parlay her UFC career into many opportunities outside of MMA & she couldn't win enough fights & however popular she was she's fooking not even in the UFC now lol.

They chew you up & spit you out in the UFC. I actually agree with that model more than boxing's model cuz its the model most every other sports use, but it for sure devalues athletes quicker & minimizes their time at the top.

You’re not wrong.

I think the UFC only really pushed fighters in the beginning.

Chuck the obvious one. He was the UFC’s face.
I know for sure they tried to push Griffin but that was TUF connected and he was the first winner.
I remember Dana telling Franklin he was going to be a rockstar. So I assume they were going to promote him heavy as well but Silva happened.
The last is Jon Jones. They promoted the hell out of him when he had the golden boy act. But he killed that and now he’s not even promoted despite being one of the best in the stable.

Oh yeah, Ronda. They promoted the hell out of her even though she wasn’t actually that good. Once the comp level increased to legit female fighters. She got blitzed and never recovered.

Other than those. I don’t think they promoted anyone heavily. Which includes GSP, Silva, Penn, Faber, Couture, etc.

[soul_survivor]

So the biggest draw the UFC has is still Conor McGregor.

Idk about now, this loss probably took a lot of stock out of Conor but the UFC can do some due diligence in promoting tf out of Dustin now.

They don't do too much promoting of anyone. Outside of Chuck, Franklin, Griffin, and Jon. I don't think the UFC has gone out of their way for anyone in their stable.

But they should ride that wave on Dustin. Promote tf out of him. He's a legend killer, this-and-that, so on and so forth.

UFC promote most of their guys, especially their top guys pretty damn well but Conor is a different type of draw. He would be promoted outside of the MMA world, in the same league as Tyson, Manny and May.

I do think this loss probably damages him and he will need a third fight with Dustin to build another PPV of this size.