Did Mayweather vs. McGregor do 6.5 million PPV buys like Urijah Faber claims Dana White said?

When he’s not sipping gin and juice or dodging Snoop Dogg’s vape pen, Urijah Faber apparently is getting fans the inside scoop on “The Money Fight.”

Tuesday on the set of Dana White’s Contender Series, the UFC Hall of Famer’s Instagram story captured the UFC president apparently giving the coveted pay-per-view buys number for Conor McGregor’s boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather.

We can’t be sure what White said, since the feed – saved by MMAjunkie contributor Chamatkar Sandhu – started a little late. It starts at the point White says “million pay-per-view buys” without the total, but Faber’s words are crystal clear on the number he heard: 6.5 million.

If that’s true, the number obliterates the pay-per-view record set by Mayweather’s “Fight of the Century” against Manny Pacquiao, which did a reported 4.6 million buys.

At the $99.95 price point advertised for the high-definition feed, “The Money Fight” printed almost $650 million in revenue, or $50 million more than Mayweather-Pacquiao. Even if only half ordered the HD feed and the other did the standard feed for 89.95, it still comes out ahead by about $17 million.

Consider that number in the face of widespread piracy reported to siphon almost three million viewers, and it makes the number all the more impressive. Plus, it doesn’t even include the event’s live gate, sponsorship figures, or other ancillary revenue streams.

Now, all they have to do is split the dough.

McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC, 0-1 boxing) made a disclosed $30 million to lose a 10th-round TKO to Mayweather (50-0 boxing) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather, meanwhile, took home a disclosed $100 million. How much of that goes to the UFC, which signed on late as a co-promoter of the event alongside Mayweather Promotions, is the million-dollar question.

With technical difficulties causing massive outages on the UFC’s online network, a chunk of that money could be going back to the fans. Whatever the final number is, though, it’s gotta be big – and it couldn’t come at a better time with the MMA promotion struggling this year on pay-per-view.

If White’s big smile is any indication, it was a much-needed home run.

For more on “The Money Fight: Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” check out the MMA Events section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.