Dana White appeared on The Jim Rome Show on Wednesday afternoon, and one of the news bits that trickled out of the interview was a lofty prognostication for the much-talked-about hypothetical fight between Ronda Rousey and Cris “Cyborg” Justino.
The UFC President did not just guess—he guaranteed the possible pay-per-view headliner would reach two million buys: "And I'll tell you this, Jim, when that fight happens I guarantee you that fight does over 2 million pay-per-view buys. It will be massive."
You read that correctly. Two million.
It is certainly a bold statement given the UFC's pay-per-view history. UFC 100 remains their top-selling PPV events, reaching 1.6 million buys. The last time the organization topped the 1 million-buy benchmark was for UFC 168 featuring the Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman rematch. UFC 168 PPV was the first time they reached 1 million buys since 2010.
Rousey herself had yet to clear 500,000 buys as a headliner prior to her fight with Cat Zingano. UFC 184 looked to have exceeded that mark, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer (h/t MMA Payout). White's prediction would mean that the Cyborg matchup would see her PPV numbers quadruple. That would be unprecedented growth for a UFC star on PPV.
There is little doubt the Rousey-Cyborg fight has drawn a lot of interest on social media, but neither Rousey nor Cyborg has proved to be the kind of superstar who can reach that massive number. Cyborg has fought exclusively via Internet streams since 2013. The Invicta FC featherweight champion has yet to prove she can be a significant draw on the grandest stage of MMA.
Rousey vs. Cyborg would be the biggest women's fight in combat sports history, but 2 million buys seems like an outrageous prediction. If the fight comes to fruition, White and the UFC will have their hands full to generate enough interest to reach that astonishing figure.
Cyborg will defend her featherweight title on July 10 at Invicta FC 13, and Rousey's next title defense is slated for UFC 190 on August 1 against Bethe Correia on PPV.
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