Would UFC 223 have scored over 1 million PPV buys if Max Holloway remained in the main event against Khabib Nurmagomedov? Dana White told the Featherweight champ this prior to his removal from the main event in Brooklyn.
Al Iaquinta filled in at last minute to face Khabib. The event reported between 250,000 to 310,000 PPV buys. Nurmagomedov easily handled Iaquinta to win the interim Featherweight title.
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn reports that Holloway told him that prior to his removal, White indicated that it was trending to over 1 million PPV buys.
Payout Perspective:
Do we believe White? Probably not, since White is promoting not giving accurate estimates. There are a lot of measures used to estimate PPV buy rate and its difficult to give a precise number since there are many variables leading up to an event. So while most would not have agreed with White’s assessment, he may have had the data to suggest it was “trending” over a million. More likely, it was a motivational tool for Holloway to keep working. Yet, these types of tactics do not seem fair to athletes.
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