UFC 257 PPV is “trending great,” says Dana White

UFC President Dana White says the upcoming UFC 257 pay-per-view is trending to be a “great” success, and that he expects it to over perform.

UFC 257 goes this Saturday on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The card will be headlined by a lightweight rematch between the UFC’s biggest star, Conor McGregor, and the division’s No. 2 contender Dustin Poirier.

The bout will be a rematch of a 2014 featherweight fight that McGregor won by first-round knockout. While the pair’s second meeting has not been preceded by nearly as much trash talk as their first, it still seems to be generating massive interest. According to White, his trusted pre-fight metrics all point to UFC 257 being a blockbuster—although that’s apparently nothing new during the pandemic.

“This thing is trending great,” White told reporters at today’s UFC 257 press conference (via MMA Mania). “Yeah, it’s good, it’s gonna be good. When was there a bad one since the pandemic started? There hasn’t been a bad pay-per-view, they’ve all been over-performing, so you can only imagine what this is gonna do.”

In addition to its Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier main event, UFC 257 will feature a number of other exciting fights, most notably a lightweight co-main event between former Bellator champion Michael Chandler and Kiwi striker Dan Hooker.

See the full lineup for the card below:

UFC 257 Main Card – 10:00 pm ET on ESPN+ PPV

• Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor
• Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler
• Jessica Eye vs. Joanne Calderwood
• Matt Frevola vs. Ottman Azaitar
• Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Ribas

UFC 257 Prelims – 8:00 pm ET on ESPN+

• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Arman Tsarukyan
• Brad Tavares vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
• Julianna Pena vs. Sara McMann
• Khalil Rountree Jr vs. Marcin Prachnio

UFC 257 Early Prelims – 6:30 pm ET on ESPN+

• Andrew Sanchez vs. Makhmud Muradov
• Movsar Evloev vs. Nik Lentz
• Amir Albazi vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov