Midnight Mania! McGregor-Mayweather does 4.4 million PPV buys, falls just short of record

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor didn’t quite break the domestic pay-per-view (PPV) record set by Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao.

That’s from a new report from BoxingScene.com (via BloodyElbow.com):

BoxingScene.com has learned that Mayweather-McGregor is expected to have generated approximately 4.4 million domestic pay-per-view buys and that an official announcement could be made as soon as this week.

That would mean that the highly publicized spectacle between boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC superstar Conor McGregor, while wildly successful financially, didn’t break the pay-per-view record for combat sports. Mayweather’s maligned win against Manny Pacquiao still owns that distinction.

Mayweather-Pacquiao did 4.6 million domestic PPV buys. Dana White, true to hyperbolic form, had initially said McGregor-Mayweather did break the record; Showtime execs pumped the brakes on that figure from the beginning with cautious optimism. McGregor-Mayweather also didn’t break the live gate record, at No. 2 with $55 million.

The payout for all parties involved is obviously still huge. McGregor is poised to make roughly $100 million, while Mayweather’s earnings are in the neighborhood of $300 million or so. That’s far more than their minimum salaries of $30 million and $100 million, respectively.

It is worth noting that McGregor-Mayweather still has a chance to beat the overall revenue figure set by May-Pac, due to much higher overseas numbers. Who knows how much higher it could have been without the technical problems and piracy?

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Insomnia

Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin did incredible numbers on all fronts as well, though obviously not in freak-show range.

This is big (good) news for the anti-trust lawsuit:

Moralizing aside ... when has this EVER worked for anyone? Why do people do this?

Joanna Jedrzejczyk looks good in yellow ...

I have no idea who these fighters are, but I love this poster!

Not saying this isn’t completely legitimate, but it’s as if Paige VanZant thought to herself, “MMA fans always hate on fighters for pulling out of a fight with one excuse, so I’m gonna use six of them.”

I had never seen this sport before, but it’s obvious from the first glance that this is a game of kings. Calcio Storico is the most brutal version of football I’ve ever seen. Apparently it dates back to the 15th century, and it is the most hardcore version of football I’ve ever seen video of.

Here’s a whole game:

Muhammad Ali hated running. He still did it.

This is a great match up. Oddly as it may seem with these two, this has me salivating a little bit to see two of the best wrestler-grapplers at Welterweight collide.

I love film photography!

I’m gonna go ahead and say I think that’s an awesome name for a stallion.

Combat Sports this week:

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Good Reads, Quick Hits

• Mayweather hung a giant picture of McGregor in his mansion. I would too if someone made me an easy $300 million. This thread explains why it is just bad art, though.
• Ben Fowlkes explores how Matt Brown announcing his retirement highlighted what a difficult time Diego Sanchez is having reckoning with the end of his own career.
• Although, Matt Brown is also keeping himself in the USADA testing pool ... just in case.

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Slips, Rips, and KO Clips

Heel hooks are far beyond my experience in Brazilian jiu-jitsu so I can only watch in awe.

Great ideas can come from anywhere:

How to begin a boxing match!

That must have been a satisfying win for Hagler ...

Eat your heart out, Jon Jones!

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Podcasts and Video

Who could be UFC’s next superstar? Follow MMAMania.com on Youtube for more:

The CME podcast:

Jake Ellenberger has a podcast now:

Everyone has a podcast, but this looks interesting:

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Random Land

Amazing caption

Puerto Rico needs our help. Donate or call your Congresspeople to authorize emergency aid to a neglected and ravaged part of America.

Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality