Daniel Cormier doesn’t expect Michael Chandler to get a cut of the UFC 303 pay-per-view.
Chandler meets Conor McGregor in a welterweight bout June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Chandler, who hasn’t competed since November 2022, waited more than a year for the fight to become official.
Cormier wonders if Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) might have overvalued his fight with McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC).
“I don’t know why you would give pay-per-view points to someone that’s not going to drive the sales,” Cormier said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Ben Askren. “And this is not me hating on Mike. He’s not driving the sales on his one. When you fight Conor McGregor, Conor’s driving the sales, he’s obviously going to be a part of the pay-per-view and part of the business.
“Mike’s still ranked in the top five or six in the world, so yeah, of course he’s compelling. Ultimately this one feels like it’s about McGregor, and part of that reason is because Conor continues to tell you how he’s making all these decisions, and essentially telling Mike, ‘We’re doing this, we’re doing this, we’re doing this.’”
McGregor is responsible for seven of the UFC’s top 10 selling PPV events of all time – including the top four spots. “The Notorious” will be returning from an almost three-year long layoff when he faces Chandler.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.