Conor McGregor reveals UFC 257 bout with Dustin Poirier garnered 1.5m PPV buys

Conor McGregor may be enduring a torrid run of one win in four UFC fights, but the Irishman remains the sport’s biggest attraction after he revealed the pay-per-view figures for his clash with Dustin Poirier last January.

McGregor, 33, made his return to the Octagon nine months ago at UFC 257, taking on lightweight rival Poirier in his pursuit of the 155-pound division summit. 

However, McGregor suffered a second round defeat by knockout – the first time he had been stopped by knockout – scuppering his plans of a rematch with arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Conor McGregor has revealed the pay-per-view figures for his UFC 257 loss to Dustin Poirier

The Irishman, 33, suffered a second round defeat by the American on Fight Island in January

Reports had suggested that UFC 257 garnered 1.6million pay-per-view buys, ranking as the third-biggest PPV card in UFC history.

And McGregor has confirmed that the true figure was in fact 1,504,737, posting an image to Twitter of the paperwork he received for the U|FC 257 showing. 

The PPV price for UFC 257 was set at US$69.99 (£51,43() for subscribers of ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+, while new subscribers could pay a price of $89.99 (£66.13) for the PPV and an annual subscription. 

The total PPV sales determines how much McGregor is paid by the UFC after an event on top of his base fee. This figure is typically formulated by a certain dollar amount per PPV buy over a particular threshold. 

McGregor posted official paperwork showing the card garnered 1,504,737 pay-per-view buys

The UFC does not make these details public, although it was reported last January that McGregor was expected to pocket at least £18m from his second fight with Poirier, while the American was set for a £730,000 pay day.

McGregor and Poirier met again at UFC 264 in July, with McGregor out to avenge his surprise defeat by the Diamond. 

However, having been dominated for the opening round, the Irishman suffered a nasty leg break and the fight was awarded in Poirier’s favour by doctor stoppage. UFC 264 reportedly garnered 1.8m PPV buys – the highest for a card in 2021 and the second-highest figure in UFC history.

McGregor currently occupies six of the top 10 PPV spots in the organisation’s history, with his defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov taking top spot with 2.4m buys.

His best PPV figures came following his crossover boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2017 which achieved 4.3m buys. McGregor is believed to have earned around £100m from that fight.  

The Irishman has been spending time in the United States following his defeat by Poirier in Las Vegas. McGregor has hung out with Justin Bieber in California, got into an altercation with rapper Machine Gun Kelly in New York, threw a horrendous pitch at a baseball game in Chicago and is currently in Miami.

The former featherweight and lightweight champion posted an image to his 8.9m followers on Twitter with a shark after a successful day fishing in the Sunshine State.

‘Caught a shark from my back garden in Miami today,’ he posted. He later returned the shark to the ocean, posting: ‘Back in you go my little ocean critter. Protect the ocean. Fish responsibly.’  

McGregor has been spending time in the United States and caught a shark in Miami, Florida