The “Money Fight” between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor certainly lived up to its billing if what Dana White says is true.
According to the UFC president, the boxing match generated 6.5 million pay-per-view buys. That figure would shatter the record 4.6 million buys Mayweather generated when he fought Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
White revealed the information backstage at his Tuesday Night Contender Series while speaking with play-by-play commentators Urijah Faber and Snoop Dogg. Mike Dyce of Sports Illustrated captured the moment on film.
The 6.5 million figure is staggering and all the more impressive considering how many people watched the fight illegally. There were 239 illegal streams detected Saturday night that reached approximately 2.93 million people, according to the digital security firm Irdeto.
The 6.5 million buys would include people that ordered the fight but were unable to watch it due to various technical issued that cropped up Saturday night. The fight was available to order on multiple platforms, most prominently Showtime PPV and UFC.TV, the latter of which left many fans upset. It’s unclear at the moment if the number of people issued refunds will eventually be subtracted from the 6.5 million White spoke about.
White released the following statement Tuesday:
Boxing and UFC pay-per-view events are typically priced between $50-60, however Mayweather-McGregor was set at $99.95. This means the two combatants are in for monster paydays. Mayweather’s disclosed purse was already a guaranteed $100 million, while McGregor’s was $30 million. When you take into consideration what they’ll take home after PPV points are included, Mayweather is expected to make north of $300 million like he did for the Pacquiao fight and McGregor should clear $100 million.
The over/under was set at five million buys when the fight was announced in June.
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