When all is said and done, one of the things that UFC 229 will be remembered for is for being the most financially lucrative event in the UFC’s history to this point.
Dana White, whose sullen-faced press conference following the melee indicated that financial metrics were the last thing on his mind, was in an entirely different mood in a video interview with TMZ Sports on Monday.
While he didn’t give many specifics as to how the event performed, he did say that it broke the elusive 2 million PPV sale barrier which has proven so difficult to do in recent decades across MMA, boxing and others.
“The pay-per-view numbers are starting to roll in, so I’m in a much better mood than I was on Saturday,” White said.
“We didn’t do 3 million. But it’s so hard to crack 2 million in. Even (Mike) Tyson-(Evander) Holyfield was at like 1.995 (million). Things like that didn’t crack 2 million. We’re way over 2 million, so I’m happy.
The UFC doesn’t release the official figures to the press, instead leaving them to dig and attempt to discover for themselves. The August 2016 clash between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz is believed to have sold 1.6 million PPVs but that has been moved into second place, if White’s comments are to be believed.
This now means that Conor McGregor has been involved in five of the six top selling PPVs in UFC history, as well as the third highest boxing PPV of all time.
