Dana White: UFC 229 did ‘way over’ two million PPV buys

Dana White appeared on TMZ Sports today and discussed the fallout from UFC 229 — including pay-per-view numbers.

Wite was smiling at the start, saying that we are just starting to get the PPV numbers rolling in. Later on, when asked if they broke three million buys, White smiled and said “We didn’t break three, but it’s so hard to do that.” White went on to say that they were “way over” two million buys.

The previous UFC PPV record was for the second Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz fight in March 2016, which was reported to have done 1.65 million buys. Previously, UFC 100 had done 1.6 million buys with Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir, although that was at lower prices. 

White was asked about a possible fine and/or suspension for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s role in the brawl that took place after he defeated McGregor. White said that he thought Nurmagomedov should be suspended for 4-6 months and fined a quarter of a million dollars. White also said that any other state would uphold the suspension and UFC would not try to get around that by booking Nurmagomedov to fight internationally during that time.

White mentioned Tony Ferguson as a potential future opponent for Nurmagomedov and definitively stated that Nurmagomedov would not be stripped of his title for his actions.