Michael Chandler Handed Sad Update on Conor McGregor Fight at UFC 303 – “He’s Not Going to Get Pay-Per-View Points”

A name that was once synonymous with the UFC itself is making its way back to the octagon! Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler found an official date at UFC 303, and MMA fans and pros alike cannot wait to catch the ‘Mac’ back in action. This comes especially after a long road of back and forth between the ex-TUF coaches, a myriad of comeback promises and rumors, and what could only be deemed an extremely patient contender in Chandler. But now ahead of the massive fight, a question arises-  will Chandler get a cut from the UFC 303 pay-per-view?

The 38-year-old has waited for the fight to be announced for a while now and during this time, ‘Iron’ faced a lot of criticism from his fellow fighters. Many felt that Chandler might just have waited a bit too long. But the wait could be worth it if he ends up beating McGregor or even landing a hefty payday. Former UFC referee Big John McCarthy believes Chandler may not get a share of the PPV points.

“People are tuning in to watch Conor” Former UFC referee gets honest about UFC 303 fight

Michael Chandler is currently the #7 ranked lightweight in the division. At 38, ‘Iron’ is at the fag end of his career and has very limited opportunity to become a champion. Will a win against McGregor get him closer to the title? Or is he fighting for something else? A massive cut from the PPV could be on offer considering McGregor has been involved in eight of the UFC’s top 10 selling PPV events of all time. Still John McCarthy doesn’t think Chandler will end get a cut from it.

According to him, it is McGregor who will be making the most amount of money from the fight. In the recent episode of his podcast, ‘WEIGHING IN’, McCarthy revealed that Chandler will play second fiddle in the fight. The former UFC referee said, “Well, you know that’s the part of the whole thing. That you know people are talking about with Michael waiting this long. And it’s like you know people look and think well how much is he going to make? He’s going to make whatever his contract says. Because he’s not going to get pay-per-view points. Conor I’m sure has in his contract he gets pay-per-view. Let’s be honest. People are tuning in to watch Conor. You’re the one fighting him, okay? But it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get this incredible payday.”

It is obvious that McGregor’s appeal, returning to the octagon after 2021, will drive a lot of PPV sales for the fight on June 29 in Las Vegas. During his heyday, ‘The Notorious’ was responsible for UFC’s most selling PPVs. The highest PPV in UFC history also featured McGregor when he went toe-to-toe against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 and it yielded 2.4 million PPV buys, translating into $180 million for the company. Even though he lost the bout, McGregor reportedly walked out of the event with close to $30 million in his pocket, with a large chunk of it coming from PPV sales with a base salary of $3 million.

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, Chandler shared his feelings regarding the fight. He claimed that he expects some ‘big things’ from the fight. The much-anticipated battle between Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor is taking place after years of build-up. This build-up has forced ‘Iron’ to believe that he can surpass McGregor-Nurmagomedov’s PPV sales number He said, “This is a big fight, man. I would argue, and this is no disrespect… we wanna break that Khabib number, the 2.4.”  But McCarthy’s suggest whatever the number maybe, Chandler may not end up being a beneficiary. Even former UFC champion Daniel Cormier echoed the same sentiment.

“This isn’t me hating,” DC believes Chandler won’t get PPV points

No UFC fight to date has surpassed the historic clash UFC 229 in terms of PPV sales. Chandler’s claims have now received some mixed reactions from UFC legends. Daniel Cormier recently took to his YouTube channel to share his verdict. According to ‘DC’, Chandler’s demand for PPV points doesn’t fit well at the moment.

On his Funky and Champ podcast, he said, “I don’t know why you would give pay-per-view points to someone that’s not gonna drive the sales. And this isn’t me hating on Mike. Mike’s not… he is exciting, but I see your point. He’s not driving the sales on this one, right? When you fight Conor McGregor, Conor’s driving the sales, he’s obviously going to be a part of the pay-per-view and part of the business.”

DC also mentioned how McGregor is controlling the decisions around their fight in terms of what can or cannot be done. It will be interesting to see whether Chandler gets what he wants. Right now, the experts don’t believe he should get PPV points, but a win over McGregor could change a lot of things for him.