As the UFC’s pay-per-view era comes to an end, Conor McGregor’s assertion that he is the sport’s PPV ‘king’ appears to be set in stone.
The Irishman’s many outside of the cage controversies never seemed to stop his draw at the box office, with massive crowds coming out to watch him live and on TV. In fact, the entire top five list for most bought events in UFC history features a McGregor headliner.
Now, with Dana White announcing that the promotion are going to ditch the model and put all of their events on Paramount+ from next year.
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Conor McGregor declares himself UFC pay-per-view king
One man who fans have been keen to see react to the latest UFC news is Conor McGregor. The Irishman is plotting a return to action next summer at the White House, and commands monstrous payouts due to his ability to draw well into the millions on pay-per-view seemingly no matter what his results are.
He has kept his cards relatively close to his chest in the immediate aftermath of the news, but did take to Instagram to share his stunning statistics with some brief captions. He wrote “long live the Irish king,” over one post, and “All McGregor” over another.
The statistics he shared are remarkable, showing an exclusively McGregor list for the top five biggest UFC pay-per-view events. UFC 229 against Khabib Nurmagomedov has top spot with 2.4million, while his last fight at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier landed at number two.
In third place is his second fight with Poirier at UFC 257 with 1.6million buys during covid time, while his only two wins on the list at UFC 202 and UFC 246 against Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone in 2016 and 2020 respectively.
The list doesn’t even include his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, which was the second-highest selling fight of all time at 4.3million buys.
Dana White announced UFC is leaving pay-per-view today
Dana White today confirmed that starting in 2026, the UFC will be heading to Paramount+ and CBS with no pay-per-view element. All 43 events, including 13 numbered shows and 30 fight nights, will be available as part of the subscription service.
“This historic deal with Paramount and CBS is incredible for UFC fans and our athletes,” White said in a statement on social media.
“For the first time ever, fans in the US will have access to all UFC content without a Pay Per-View model, making it more affordable and accessible to view the greatest fights on a massive platform.
“This deal puts UFC amongst the biggest sports in the world. The exposure provided by the Paramount and CBS networks under this new structure is a huge win for our athletes and anyone who watches and loves this sport.”