The UFC returns to action this weekend with what will be its fifth PPV event of the year. The event also marks the world leader in MMA’s annual trip to Brazil. UFC 301 will be headlined by a flyweight fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg. Apart from the main event, the card is stacked with a number of Brazilian fighters. Despite this, fellow Brazilians Gilbert Burns and Renato Moicano could not come to an agreement on how much UFC 301 would do in terms of PPV sales.
Burns and Moicano recently appeared on the ‘Show me the Money’ podcast where the two men spoke about the news coming out of the MMA world. Chief among them was the upcoming PPV card. While discussing the card, Burns asked Moicano how much he thought Pantoja would get for his efforts against Ereg. Moicano believes Pantoja would be making $700,000 as UFC 301 would be raking in the crowd.
“Like I said before, I can’t kill someone for that sh*t brother. PPV points is where you get the money. I think he (Pantoja) is going to make $700,000. Its going to sell (UFC 301). At least 700,000 brother (in PPV sales). 300,000? Get the f**k out of here my brother.”
Now, 700,000 is a massive number for UFC PPV sales. It’s not that easily achievable. So why does Moicano think it would easily get to those numbers?
For 700,000 PPV sales, UFC needed either the main event to be a super fight or the card had to be extremely stacked. Unfortunately, UFC 301 does not meet either of those criteria. For reference, Adesanya vs Costa, and Usman vs Masvidal 2 are some PPV cards that generated 700,000 or more in PPV points.
So the point is unless you have mega-polarizing stars fighting for titles or vengeance those numbers are difficult to attain. And even though it does feature Jose Aldo, the Brazilian isn’t simply the money maker he was during his heyday. Despite this, the card promises to be an exciting one with fans being in store for some very interesting fights, including a main event title bout.
A closer look at UFC 301: Pantoja vs Erceg
The main event at UFC 301 features Alexander Pantoja putting his belt on the line for the second time. In addition to this, the card also features the ‘King of Rio’ Jose Aldo as he returns to the octagon to take on Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event. Aldo will be aiming to get back into the win column after his recent loss to Merab Dvalishvili.
Former title challenger Anthony Smith is also on the card taking on Vitor Petrino. Middleweight fighter Michel Pereira is also on the fight card as he aims to extend his impressive seven-fight win streak against Ihor Potieria. UFC 301 takes place on Saturday 4th May. The main card is set for 7 pm PT / 9 pm CT / 10 pm ET on Saturday. So do tune in and maybe 700,000 PPV sales won’t be an issue.
