How many pay-per-view buys will UFC 189 and the heavily promoted headliner between featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor do? We turned to the guy who – outside of UFC officials – can offer the best prediction.

Prior to Sunday’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view event in San Francisco, MMAjunkie contributor Chamatkar Sandhu caught up with Wrestling Observer Newsletter/MMAFighting.com reporter Dave Meltzer, a longtime combat-sports and pro-wrestling journalist who’s the go-to source for PPV estimates.

On July 11, the UFC expects a PPV windfall when featherweight champ Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and challenger McGregor (17-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) headline UFC 189 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The organization has launched an international media tour to promote the grudge match, and the promotion is likely to pick up even more as we approach the fight date, which coincides with the UFC’s International Fight Week.

UFC President Dana White has suggested the event could reach a million PPV buys – a figure the organization has accomplished only a half-dozen or so times. Is that realistic?

“I’ve got to say right now, I say no,” said Meltzer, who’s considered the most credible reporter for PPV estimates. “But, I mean, you know – to me, when it comes to pay-per-view, you never know until the week of the fight. I look at this on paper, and I just go, ‘No. No, no, no.’ Seven-hundred-and-fifty (thousand) maybe? Maybe not even that much.

“I look at – Jon Jones and (Daniel Cormier) did not break a million, and I was never more excited for a fight in years than Jon Jones and ‘DC.’ And I was more excited about that fight than this one. So I’m thinking it’s not going to.”

However, he said McGregor is the type of self-promoter who could easily give the event the last-minute push it needs. He pointed to a recent “Embedded” episode in which McGregor stole the show.

“Two minutes in – between the flipping off and Conor putting his foot on the steps – I sent it to all my wrestling buddies,” he said. “I said, ‘You guys have got to see this.’ Several people in wrestling have told wrestlers, ‘You wrestlers, you need to study this guy.’ I mean, Conor McGregor is one of the greatest guys I’ve ever seen.”

Check out the above video as Meltzer discusses UFC 189, Ronda Rousey’s star power, Brock Lesnar’s WWE-UFC decision, Phil “CM Punk” Brooks’ upcoming UFC debut and more.

And for more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

* * * *