UFC President Dana White has stated that the fight between Conor Mcgregor and Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 is going to be the biggest non-title fight in the history of UFC.
Conor McGregor takes on Dustin Poirier in a lightweight rematch in the UFC 257 headliner this weekend. Their first meeting, of course, was a featherweight clash in 2014 that saw McGregor come out on top with a first-round KO. The fight is a rematch from when the pair fought seven years ago at UFC 178. In that fight, Dustin Poirier was knocked out in the first round. At that time the fight took place in the featherweight division, and the Louisiana native has been on a tear ever since having gone 10-2 in the lightweight division. While Conor went 6-2 in his last 8 UFC fights.
UFC President Dana White says the upcoming UFC 257 pay-per-view is trending to be a “great” success, and that he expects it to over-perform. UFC 257 goes this Saturday on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The card will be headlined by a lightweight rematch between the UFC’s biggest star, Conor McGregor, and the division’s No. 2 contender Dustin Poirier.
McGregor has a track record of delivering high PPV and live gate numbers. With a reduced capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the live gate total won’t be as significant as it normally is. With that said, the PPV buys could very well bring in the numbers that fight fans are used to seeing whenever McGregor steps inside the Octagon.
Serving as the co-main event, Dan Hooker will go one-on-one against former three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler. Also set for the card is a women’s flyweight battle between Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood.
Conor Mcgregor vs Dustin Poirier could be a record-breaker
Speaking to BT Sport ahead of UFC 257, White praised both McGregor and Poirier, suggesting this matchup is the biggest non-title fight in UFC history.
“Yeah, not only is it the biggest non-title fight we’ve ever done, it’s going to be one of the top-selling pay-per-views ever,” White said.
McGregor has headlined several PPV blockbuster, including his UFC 229 lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr., his UFC 246 non-title bout against Donald Cerrone, and his two non-title fights against Nate Diaz. Those were all massive fights, and even those non-title bouts did massive numbers at the box office. But this fight with Poirier is, according to White, trending to do even bigger numbers.
As far as calling it the biggest non-title bout in UFC history, the only way White can prove that to be true is if it beats out all of McGregor’s other non-title fights at the PPV box office, and that won’t be easy considering how many PPVs his non-title fights against Diaz and Cerrone both sold. Right now, UFC 257 is trending in the right direction of breaking the records, and we should get the PPV numbers for the event trickling in over the next few weeks.
Dana White is excited for UFC 257
According to promotion president Dana White, The event is trending “great” and will likely over-perform, something he’s witnessed after every UFC fight card in 2020 despite the global coronavirus pandemic.
“This thing is trending great,” White told reporters at today’s UFC 257 press conference (via MMA Mania). “Yeah, it’s good, it’s gonna be good. When was there a bad one since the pandemic started? There hasn’t been a bad pay-per-view, they’ve all been over-performing, so you can only imagine what this is gonna do.”
There is no question McGregor has no shortage of special moments inside the Octagon. The 13-second knockout over Jose Aldo, the KO win over Eddie Alvarez, and his most recent memory of Donald Cerrone all come to mind. He has also said he will knock Poirier out inside 60 seconds, so that would no doubt be something special for the fans.
Since their first meeting, Dustin Poirier has come a long way. He changed weight classes and improved his lightweight record to 10-2 in the promotion. He has beaten the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, etc.
What do you guys think of UFC 257?
Purchase the UFC merch here.
To bet on an MMA event click here.
Also Read:
SHARE
