UFC News: Conor McGregor Drops Huge UFC 303 Announcement; Promises to Surpass 8-Year-Old Record Against Michael Chandler

Conor McGregor has made yet another announcement that made the fight fans utter ‘wow’. Before his much-awaited showdown against Michael Chandler, at UFC 303, the Irish fighter took to X and shared a picture of his ticket receipt. However, there was a claim that had the entire world’s attention.

The former UFC double champion seemed to predict that UFC 303 would witness the breaking of a record. Furthermore, the mixed martial artist also seemed pretty excited about the event. But what is the record all about? Let’s get right into it.

Conor McGregor predicts UFC 303 will cross the gate mark 

Taking to X, ‘The Notorious’ wrote, “Excited to break the 20million dollar gate mark for the first time in ufc history! Another first for the Mac daddy. SEE YOU IN VEGAS.” He also shared the order details that showed that he successfully bought 5 front row seats to UFC 303, which includes champion VIP experience, summing up to $13,500. Gates correspond to the amount of money generated by ticket sales. Undeniably, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has never crossed $20 million through tickets.

Eight years ago, McGregor’s fight with Eddie Alvarez in UFC 205 set the bar at $17,700,000 million gates. However, given McGregor’s megastar hype and the palpable excitement throughout the world of mixed martial arts for his return to the Octagon after about three years might break this curse. 

Surprisingly, there was a time when Dana White declared that the Irish fighter had the ability to attract enough fans to make almost $20 million gates. However, back in 2020, White revealed his displeasure at having to let McGregor fight without fans. But the story didn’t end there. The boss of Showtime Sports also took a few jabs at White for the same reason.

Stephen Espinoza once fired shots at Dana White 

Back in 2023, Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo went against each other in Showtime Boxing. Owing to the massive fan following, it was the third time Showtime Boxing secured a gate mark of $20 million. However, things weren’t the same for UFC. During the press conference for Alvarez vs Charlo, the president of Showtime Sports, Stephen Espinoza, took a jab at the UFC CEO.

He said, “Not all combat sports is the same. No disrespect to anyone, but there are levels to this. This event will generate a gate (money from ticket sales) of over $20million. Our third $20million+ gate in the last six months. To put that in perspective – the UFC has never done a $20million gate in its entire history. We’ve done it three times since April.”

Without a doubt, White lashed out, too. He pointed out that Espinoza had nothing to do with the success of the boxing champs. It was the fighter’s fame and megastar attributes that drove the gates in their fights. He further claimed that Espinoza was nothing but “an arrogant delusional POS” for believing otherwise and taking credit for the high gate mark. 

Nevertheless, ‘The Mystic Mac’ has now swooped in to save White and the UFC with claims that UFC 303 would cross the $20 million gate mark. Do you think McGregor’s words will come true? Or will the ticket sales sum up to less than $20 million? Drop down to the comments below and let us know your thoughts.