It seems that Conor McGregor’s return did what many predicted.
According to a report from Monday in the Sports Business Journal (subscription required), ESPN + recorded 1.2 million pay-per-view purchases for UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi, which was crowned by Dustin Poirier’s second round TKO win over McGregor in a lightweight rematch. Another 400,000 international purchases put the limit at 1.6 million.
Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie reported the day before that 1.6 million was the bottom for purchases.
The UFC is not a publicly traded company and does not disclose financial information. The early reporting on pay-per-view purchases does not mention whether the company had to make a significant number of refunds following reports of widespread problems accessing the live stream by viewers who purchased the event.
Regardless, if the number of purchases stands at 1.6 million, it would make UFC 257 one of the most top events in the company’s history. UFC 229, with Khabib Numagomedov’s victory over Conor McGregor, reportedly made 2.4 million purchases, while UFC 202, with McGregor’s majority decision of Nate Diaz, accounted for a reported 1.65 million purchases.