UFC 257 Salaries! McGregor Banks $5 Million For ‘Fight Island’ Debut

Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will each command a hefty payday for their rematch tomorrow night (Sat., Jan. 23, 2021) at UFC 257 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Etihad Arena on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., as the two lightweights square off in a highly-anticipated main event.

McGregor, who hasn’t fought since a 40-second TKO win over Donald Cerrone last January, is hoping to capture a win over “Diamond” and lock down the next UFC lightweight title shot. This will be the Irishman’s first appearance at 155 pounds since a submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2018.

As expected, “Notorious” is set to earn a substantial fight purse for his rematch with Poirier. According to a recent report by the Independent, McGregor will bank $5 million in salary to step inside of the cage at UFC 257. This is $2 million more compared to what he earned against “Cowboy” just twelve months ago. Looks like UFC had to sweeten the pot since McGregor won’t earn much of anything off fan attendance.

“Notorious” will be eligible to earn much more following the main event bout through PPV buys and backend revenue, which could earn him close to $20 million when it’s all said and done. After all, McGregor is projecting UFC 257 to pull in at least 1.6 million PPV buys.

As for Poirier, the long-time UFC veteran is expected to earn $1 million for his rematch with McGregor this weekend on “Fight Island.” That is the biggest payday of his professional MMA career. Poirier will also have the opportunity to bring in more money on the backend as well as McGregor donating $500,000 to The Good Fight Foundation.

UFC 257 is expected to be one of the biggest PPV shows of the year for the promotion and the winner of McGregor vs. Poirier 2 will likely get the next UFC lightweight title shot. It’s a great prize for both men, especially on top of the millions being earned this weekend on “Fight Island.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 257 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN+ and ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.