Report: UFC 217 pulls estimated 875K pay-per-views in North America
Dana White may have been right after all.
After the UFC president claimed the promotion's recent visit to Madison Square Garden - UFC 217 - pulled a buyrate of more than one million pay-per-views, early estimates from MMA Fighting's Dave Meltzer put the star-studded bill at 875,000 purchases in North America alone.
The figure - which already stands as the promotion's best of the year - doesn't include pay-per-views bought online or in Australia, where the event reportedly pulled solid numbers as well.
Speculation over how much scratch UFC 217 would amass was spawned far and wide due to headliner Georges St-Pierre's prior four-year absence from competition, during which lightweight champ Conor McGregor and former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey cemented themselves as the outfit's cash cows.
According to Meltzer, the bulk of the buys for GSP's triumphant return as a middleweight came from his native Canada, with White previously stating the event had set the nation's buyrate record.
The estimated figure stands as the second-highest of St-Pierre's UFC career as a headliner, the first his date with Nick Diaz at UFC 158. In other words, he hasn't lost it at the box office, nor in the cage - as evidenced by the third-round submission he scored over Michael Bisping to capture the middleweight crown on Nov. 4.