Is Conor McGregor Really Getting $80 Million to Fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 246?

Conor McGregor, claimed during the media interactions in the lead up to UFC 246, that he would earn around $80 million for his return fight against Donald Cerrone this Saturday. While that’s a huge amount, it’s still less than what Conor McGregor has been able to achieve in the recent past. Cerrone is riding on two back to back losses, and will make a return to the welterweight. However, a non-title match against Donald Cerrone, who without any doubt is an incredible athlete, begs to ask the question. How good will be UFC 246 PPV numbers?

Conor McGregor made history when his bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov fetched 2.4 million PPV buys for UFC. The most ever for an MMA event. However, the report from Nevada State Athletic Commission reveals that he will get $3 million as a fight purse for his upcoming fight at UFC 246. 

Why did Conor McGregor make the $80 million claim?

UFC releases the fight purse for every fighter who has a match in the upcoming events. However, the total salary of a fighter is calculated after his shares from the PPV are also decided, and calculated. In a similar case, Conor McGregor bagged more than $200 million in the boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. It was calculated after the PPV sales of the bout came out. 

Conor McGregor is expecting something similar for his much-anticipated return to the UFC octagon. But, his claim of earning $80 million has raised questions around the internet. Luke Thomas did some calculations around McGregor’s potential $80 million payday and said the following through Twitter.

Thomas was right to point out that at the very high end, Conor McGregor’s return bout can fetch two million PPV sales. He also pointed out that the price of UFC 246 PPV is kept at $65. That means Conor will have to bag rights on 62% of the total gross, to stand right by his claims.

Is Conor McGregor earning $80 million for the fight?

According to the new deal signed by UFC with ESPN, anybody who has an ESPN+ subscription will be able to watch the UFC 246 PPV at $65. However, someone who doesn’t have an ESPN+ connection will have to subscribe before watching the PPV. It has become compulsory for every MMA fan to subscribe to ESPN+ to watch UFC PPV. The PPV figures aren’t been discussed much these days. And it will be interesting to see how much UFC 246 collects with PPV sales.

The mark is two million sales, however, Conor has only touched the two million mark once inside the UFC octagon. McGregor made a return to the octagon against Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Eagle was and continues to remain undefeated in his MMA career. And the UFC 229 saw 2.4 million in PPV sales.

Is McGregor’s return to the octagon after 15 months enough to pull the two million mark in PPV sales once again?. Only time will tell. Or probably the $80 million has a lot of other different ways to reach him, and PPV sales aren’t his only salary to fight inside the octagon.

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