Dana White Hints at New Face of MMA as Conor McGregor’s Superstar Status Takes a Beating After UFC 303

UFC 303 didn’t fail to impress the fight fans, despite the fallout of multiple fights on the main card. Needless to say, Dana White and Co. did a phenomenal job with the event. The fans were excited with not only the main event with Alex Pereira knocking out Jiri Prochazka in the second round but also with the co-main event that Dan Ige took up on 3 hours’ notice against Diego Lopes. But as the press conference for UFC 303 proceeded, the UFC head honcho revealed that Conor McGregor might not be the face of MMA anymore.

The Irish mixed martial artist was supposed to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 and make a comeback to the UFC after being out of action for about 3 years. However, a broken toe prevented the ‘Mystic Mac’ from getting into the fight and forced him to withdraw. This indeed left the event in great jeopardy until Pereira took up a fight and saved the event. But did you know that Pereira might just become the new face of MMA?

Alex Pereira might replace Conor McGregor as MMA’s face

Recently, the TV broadcaster and famed MMA reporter, Jason Hagholm, took to X and wrote that White affirmed Alex Pereira had the third and fourth-highest numbers in the gates. The tweet read, “Dana White says the thrid & fourth highest gates are Alex Pereira’s so he may be the face of MMA now.”

Needless to say, the ‘Mystic Mac’ is one of the few fighters who have the potential to raise the gates bar as high as the record-breaking $20 million. However, the man with hands of stone isn’t too far behind. UFC 303 reportedly earned $15,909,243 from the live gates, with a massive attendance of 18,881 fans in the arena.

This was indeed the fourth-highest gate in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With the phenomenal performance that the fighter displayed at UFC 303 against the Czech Samurai, Pereira garnered a few more fans into his fanbase, don’t you think?

Despite the huge amount of money that McGregor could have garnered, White was happy with the numbers for UFC 303 with the ‘Poatan’ in focus. He was simply grateful to the fighting community for the support that the MMA promotion received.

UFC CEO was proud of the fight fans

Talking about the amount of money that the UFC earned at UFC 303, White stated, “Well, I think what happens is we’ve built up this trust level with our fanbase that they know when they show up we’re gonna put on a good show.” The UFC CEO was truly happy with how the event turned out. But his pride in the fight fans was too high.

The original matchup between McGregor and Chandler sold tickets for more than $20 million. However, as the fight fell away, many of the fans wanted a refund and didn’t want to attend the event anymore. But to White’s surprise, a humongous amount of fans didn’t want to withdraw and attended the event that showcased an amazing match between Pereira and Prochazka. Weighing in on this, the UFC boss said, “They came and came in for international fight week, so yeah, I think it’s a testament to the trust that we have built with our fanbase.”

Do you think Conor McGregor will fade away as the face of MMA, only to be replaced by Alex Pereira? Share your views in the comments below.