UFC: Dana White has ‘surprise’ for illegal MMA streamers – ‘I can’t wait to catch you’
- UFC president responds to fan commenting they would ‘pirate’ company’s first pay-per-view of the year
- Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor set to bring in huge buy rate at UFC 257, with ESPN increasing subscription prices and PPV fees
UFC president Dana White has hinted that he will be cracking down on illegal MMA streamers ahead of the promotion’s 2021 season.
The first pay-per-view of the year is UFC 257, headlined by lightweight superstars Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier on January 23. The card is likely to garner substantial revenue, with “Notorious” McGregor having commanded more than one million pay-per-view buys on five occasions for the UFC.
In an Instagram post promoting the bout on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, White later replied to a fan’s comment saying they could not wait “to pirate the [expletive] out of this”.
White, who has long lamented the financial blows caused by illegal streaming of MMA fights – and sport in general – said: “And I can’t wait to catch u!!! Gotta surprise for u [expletive] this year” alongside two fist bump emojis.
To watch UFC pay-per-view, fans in the US must now pay for an annual ESPN+ subscription, which has been raised from US$49.99 to US$59.99 in 2021, and then buy the individual pay-per-view for US$69.99, up from US$64.99 in 2020.