Henry Cejudo says he knows how much UFC 292 did in pay-per-view buys, which featured Sean O’Malley fighting for the belt.
In the main event of UFC 292, Aljamain Sterling was defending his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley, in ‘Suga’s’ first pay-per-view headliner. O’Malley is a massive star on social media, but many were curious to see if that would translate to pay-per-view buys, which is important for the UFC.
Although on paper UFC 292 was a solid card and had O’Malley atop the bill, Cejudo says the event did not do as well as many would have thought.
“There are kudos I will give to Sean O’Malley. Sean O’Malley can sell a fight. He has the hair, every once in a while he comes up with a good comment, every once in a while, he dresses like a dirty Q-tip. Looks like a walking tampon. But, that being said, there is a marketing tool behind him,” Henry Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “And, guess what, guys, I have friends at ESPN. I’m not gonna say who, but Sean O’Malley, you guys wanna know what Sean O’Malley’s buys did, he did anywhere between 300,000 to 350,000. That’s it. That’s all Sean O’Malley made in pay-per-view buys.
“Tag ESPN, tag everybody from ESPN. Is 350,000 pay-per-view buys, is that a surplus or is that down? The other guy who will more likely will probably is Aljamain Sterling,” Cejudo continued. “Everyone was projecting that this event was one of the biggest of the year. It’s not true. So, my question is to Sean O’Malley. So you have that sauce to sell, do you have that sauce to be a pay-per-view superstar? Yeah, you just won the belt but you would imagine you’re fighting in Boston against a current champ who has gone down and got wins over legends, how big is the name of Sean O’Malley? Yeah, does he have a following through Instagram? 100 percent. But my question is can he sell pay-per-views?”
Although since pay-per-views have been controlled by ESPN, the number of buys hasn’t become as public. But, in recent memory, UFC 274 which was headlined by Charles Oliveira vs. Justin Gaethje did 400,000 PPV buys.
As well, it’s uncertain if Henry Cejudo does know the real numbers. But, if he’s right 300,000 to 350,000 is likely a bit of a disappointment for Sean O’Malley’s pay-per-view headlining debut.
