Conor McGregor reveals UFC 246 numbers as top 2020 PPV, but Jorge Masvidal’s manager begs to differ

It isn’t very often that we’re privy to hard numbers when it comes to UFC pay-per-views. Company president Dana White rarely even gives much of an estimate, outside of saying an event is “trending to be one of the biggest ever” or other similar platitudes.

Conor McGregor, however, issued recent numbers that show the total pay-per-view buys for his UFC 246 headliner with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, claiming it was the highest drawing pay-per-view of the year.

A letter from UFC parent company Zuffa, LLC, to McGregor shows UFC 246 estimates at 1,285,562, but actual collected reports as of Oct. 31, 2020, as 1,353,429.

That McGregor’s 40-second knockout of Cerrone drew over one million buys was no surprise. That has been widely reported. But 1.35 million buys is well over one million.

Jorge Masvidal manager Abraham Kawa, however, shot down McGregor’s assertion that it was the top draw of 2020. Kawa claims that his client’s fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 in July was actually the UFC’s top draw of the year.

Kawa did not deliver any numbers to support his counter to McGregor, simply saying that they have access to their pay-per-view numbers, as well. He then wished McGregor good luck in his January 2021, when he faces Dustin Poirier in the UFC 257 main event.

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