The biggest fight in mixed martial arts (MMA) today has just been booked and UFC president Dana White couldn’t be happier.
Of course, we’re talking about UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor set for UFC 229 on Oct. 6 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was announced earlier today (Aug. 3, 2018) during the promotion’s 25th anniversary press conference in Los Angeles (full replay here).
Following the press conference that ended with a Khabib vs. McGregor fight promo, White discussed the massive main event title fight and why it was an obvious decision.
“Not difficult at all,” White said when asked if the booking was hard to make (shown above courtesy of UFC). “It’s what makes Conor McGregor the international superstar he is. It’s what makes Khabib a straight killer.”
“You have two of these guys, who are both straight killers, coming out of the gate and going straight after each other head-to-head in their prime. Incredible.”
At one point, we didn’t know for sure if this fight was going to take place in 2018. After attacking a bus full of UFC fighters this past April in Brooklyn, “Notorious” was facing felony charges and potential jail time. Luckily for McGregor, UFC, and Khabib, the Irish superstar was hit with a slap on the wrist last month and allowed to return to competition, blazing a trail for this PPV beauty to take form.
“It’s a massive fight,” said White. “I knew this was the fight to make. I believe this is the biggest fight in the history of the company other than the Mayweather fight. I think it’s going to be massive.”
While Khabib vs. McGregor will never eclipse the 4.4 million PPV buys that Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. McGregor did last summer in a boxing superfight, it’s possible that the UFC 229 lightweight title affair surpasses the 1.6 million mark that McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 did back in 2016. If Russia and Ireland really show up for this international showdown, there’s a chance Khabib vs. McGregor can sniff two million PPV buys.
Either way, this was the fight to make. Nurmagomedov is undefeated at 26-0 and McGregor has lost only to Nate Diaz inside of the Octagon. Mix in the bad blood between the two lightweights and you have a highly-volatile concoction that UFC lives for.
What say you, Maniacs? How many PPV buys can Khabib vs. McGregor turn in?