No way it does anywhere close to Jones vs Cormier 2, won't even get half of that. Dana more lies.
Err Jones vs DC 2 only did 750k buys, and that was only because of the hyped rivalry with DC. Jones isn't even a top 5 draw
UFC 223 is 100% going to do more then half of that
Obviously Dana is just trying to hype things up. Conor did 1.3 to 1.5 million last Novemeber, and no one else but Conor is coming close to that, equaling that or surpassing that,
BUT I guarantee you that Max vs Khabib WILL do better then expected, because of the fact Conor IS attached to this fight and is a looming presence over this fight.
Also when all the shocking news broke of Tony pulling out, that got more eyeballs watching. That was huge news that put UFC 223 in many headlines...especially how a lot of it was "Conor will fight the winner when Conor finally makes his glorious return to the UFC"
All in all, I think because of the hype and the potential of the winner facing off against Conor, My projections are that Max vs Khabib WILL be around 600k to 800k. Very good and much much better then expected.
There's no way this PPV does 300k. Those people are idiots
IF Khabib could do 300k vs Barboza in a non-hyped PPV
Then this PPV against Max with Conor's presence and everything at stake (winner facing Conor) will add significantly to the buys
Conor's glorious return UFC fight against the winner WILL break 2million buys. Mark it down. Conor is the biggest star in combat sports history and after the Floyd fight Conor has gained an even bigger following