McGregor’s UFC 205 Pay-Per-View Claim Remains Unverified
Conor McGregor reignited a debate about UFC pay-per-view records in October 2024, claiming that UFC 205 outsold UFC 100 and that he had documentation to prove it. The claim is difficult to verify from public records: reported buy figures vary, and the UFC has not published an audited comparison for the two events.
What McGregor claimed
In a post circulated on October 22, McGregor pushed back against the idea that UFC 100 was the promotion’s biggest pay-per-view. He said he had outsold the 2009 event and would eventually hold all ten places among the UFC’s leading pay-per-view cards. That is his claim; the underlying documentation has not been made available in a form that lets the public independently check it.
Bloody Elbow’s post reproducing McGregor’s statement captures the claim, but a social media post is not evidence of the final distributor totals.
Why the numbers are hard to compare
UFC 100, headlined by Brock Lesnar against Frank Mir in July 2009, is commonly credited in media reports with roughly 1.6 million pay-per-view buys. UFC 205, where McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden in November 2016, has often been reported at about 1.3 million buys. These are widely repeated estimates rather than a public, audited event-by-event ledger, and different reports have used different figures.
A MMA Fighting report on UFC 100’s reported record notes that estimates for the event have ranged over time. Such uncertainty makes a definitive head-to-head conclusion difficult without the specific records McGregor says he possesses.
Different records, different measures
UFC’s own announcement about UFC 205 highlighted records for commercial pay-per-view locations and gross revenue, along with its gate and attendance. Those measures describe viewing in bars and other venues and the event’s overall business performance; they are not the same thing as the number of household pay-per-view purchases. A record in one category does not establish a record in another.
The UFC confirmed that UFC 205 made history at Madison Square Garden and that McGregor became the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously. Its release described commercial pay-per-view records but did not publish a directly comparable home-buy figure for UFC 100 and UFC 205. Read the UFC’s UFC 205 announcement.
Verdict: unverified from public data
McGregor’s claim may be supported by private documentation, but the public information available does not establish that UFC 205 surpassed UFC 100 in pay-per-view buys. The commonly reported estimates favor UFC 100, while the UFC’s documented UFC 205 records refer to commercial venues and revenue. Until comparable final figures or McGregor’s supporting records are released, the fairest conclusion is that the claim remains unverified.
