CONOR MCGREGOR AND THE UFC MEGA HITS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 17 Aug 2017
Mixed martial arts has been growing in popularity among the professional combat sports. Through the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), MMA is getting huge numbers from the pay-per-view market and even surpassing the records of some well-known proessional boxers.
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Anderson Silva has 9.3 million PPV buys. It would be 10.5 million if his appearance at UFC 200 as a last minute replacement is included. Brock Lesnar has 7.7 million PPV buys, an extra ordinary feat since he has a few fights in the UFC compared to the other fighters who are mentioned.
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Ronda Rousey, who was the main product of UFC marketing before Conor McGregor, has 5.1 million buys. Georges St-Pierre harvested 10.5 million buys, and he has not even fought for three years. In just nine months the UFC did 3.2 million buys in the whole of 2014.
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McGregor?s first three headline fights was able to outsell the entire UFC promotion for a whole year. McGregor's last four mega matches against Jose Aldo, Nate Diaz twice, and Eddie Alvarez have combined for an estimated 6 million PPV buys.
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While GSP Georges Saint-Pierre owns the record for the most total PPV buys, Conor "The Notorious" pactically grabs every other PPV record. McGregor has sold an amazing 6.85 million buys in a period of fifteen months only. Brock Lesnar?s 970,000 buys per event average paled in comparison to McGregor?s estimated 1.35 million per event.
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The year 2010 was the UFC?s best ever in PPV sales. It garnered 8 million buys with GSP and Lesnar being their most popular commodities. In 2010 GSP and Lesnar fought 4 times and gathered around 3.5 million buys. McGregor drew 4.85 million buys in 2016 in just three fights. Conor McGregor not only sells better than GSP and Lesnar, he sells better than both of them combined.
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The top five MMA pay-per-view mega hits are the following:
1. UFC 202 Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor on Aug 20, 2016 - 1,650,000
2. UFC 196 ConorMcGregor vs. Nate Diaz on Mar 5, 2016 - 1,600,000
3. UFC 100 Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir on Jul 11, 2009 - 1,600,000
4. UFC 205 Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor on Nov 12, 2016 - 1,600,000
5. UFC 194 Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor on Dec 12, 2015 - 1,200,000
5. UFC 200 Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes on Jul 9, 2016 - 1,200,000
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"I think we beat the (Manny) Pacquiao fight,? UFC president Dana White told media referring to Mayweather?s 2015 superfight with Manny Pacquiao. That match dubbed "Fight of the Century" earned 4.6 million PPV buys, enormously erasing all previous PPV records. According to White, Las Vegas bookmakers are currently predicting the Mayweather-McGregor fight to sell 4.9 million. ?I think globally it is a much bigger fight,? White added. ?I agree that Mayweather-Pacquiao was a very big fight. But globally, with Conor?s popularity in Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada, I think this is a much bigger fight. I think we do really well.?
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Kenny Bayless, the veteran boxing referee who has worked as referee of several Floyd Mayweather fights, will not be the third man on the ring during the Mayweather-McGregor bout. The Nevada State Commission decided after learning of Bayless? public criticisms against the trending Boxer vs. MMA Fighter boxing bout. ?I wouldn?t want to see Mayweather-McGregor," Bayless was quoted by Elie Seckbach. "It?s two different sports. UFC and boxing are two different sports. What would be the point??
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Bayless has refereed six of Mayweather?s 12 fights since his split-decision win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 which was the top-selling pay-per-view bout that time.
Bayless was the referee when Mayweather made his pro debut with a second-round technical knockout of Roberto Apodaca on October 11, 1996.
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Bayless officiated the Mayweather-Pacquiao all time PPV box-office hit in May 2015 along with Mayweather?s September 2015 victory over Andre Berto. Bayless was also atop the ring during Mayweather?s second fight against Marcos Maidana in 2014, and Mayweather?s victory over Canelo Alvarez in 2013.
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The commission will decide who will serve as referee and judges for the bout when they meet on Wednesday morning Mayweather-McGregor could surpass the 2015 Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao bout as the most lucrative combat sports event in history. The contenders for the referee of the prospective most lucrative fight in boxing history are Russell Mora, Robert Byrd and Tony Weeks.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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