UFC 100 PPV estimates may rattle the boxing world

Dave Meltzer over at F4WOnline had some interesting numbers for us in the MMA world. According to Meltzer, UFC 100 could easily break into the top five of all time pay per view buys for a U.S. fight event. Here’s his breakdown.

2,400,000 – 5/5/07 – Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

1,990,000 – 6/28/97 – Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield

1,600,000 – 11/9/96 – Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield

1,580,000 – 8/19/95 – Mike Tyson vs. Peter McNeely

1,400,000 – 4/19/91 – Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman

1,400,000 – 3/16/96 – Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno

1,400,000 – 9/18/99 Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad

So, if the UFC 100 PPV numbers reach the early estimates of  1.5 to 1.65 million buys as Meltzer and others predict, Dana White and crew could bust into the elite and come in anywhere between #3 and #5. I expect a lot of backlash from the boxing world next week considering it took 8 years for Mayweather and De La Hoya to bring boxing PPV’s back to the top whereas MMA has seen a steady increase over the past few years.