Hey, remember back when this was a big deal?
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White wasn’t kidding when he said former lightweight champion Conor McGregor was worth all the trouble, as “Notorious” now holds the three highest-grossing pay-per-view (PPV) events of all time.
Including UFC 229.
That’s according to a new report from Dave Meltzer at MMA Fighting, who expects the final tally to be just above the 2.4 million mark. That’s somewhere between White’s first and last estimate once the UFC 229 hype train started picking up speed.
The other two, in order, are UFC 202 and UFC 196, also starring Nate Diaz.
Viewers who did shell out the $65 price tag and watched Khabib Nurmagomedov retain his 155-pound strap in high definition, courtesy of a fourth-round submission win over the power-punching Irishman (watch it), also got some bonus content by way of “The Eagle’s” post-fight brawl (video).
No question Nurmagomedov will be paid handsomely for his PPV points and that may be why he’s so blasé about losing his disclosed salary — valued at $2 million — to Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).
And if money is no object, then neither is a potential rematch.