Although MMA hasn’t made it into the top of US sports streaming trends, it is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. This is in large part thanks to the UFC and the thrilling fight nights which the promotion has put on over it’s 29 year history.
In this article, we take a look at the 5 largest ever UFC PPV events in the promotion’s history.
The 5 largest PPV events in UFC history are:
- McGregor v Nurmagomedov – UFC 229 – 2,400,000 PPV buys – $180m
- McGregor v Diaz 2 – UFC 202 – 1,650,000 PPV Buys – $90 million
- Lesnar v Mir 2 – UFC 100 – 1,600,000 PPV Buys – $82 million
- McGregor v Diaz – UFC 196 – 1,500,000 PPV Buys – $80 million
- McGregor v Aldo – UFC 194 – 1,400,000 PPV Buys – $80 million
Table of Contents
5. McGregor v Aldo – UFC 194 – 1,400,000 PPV Buys – $80 million
McGregor v Aldo took place at UFC 194. It was the 5th largest UFC PPV event, bringing in around $80 million.
Aldo was undoubtedly the greatest Featherweight of all time. He was unbeaten for 10 years and he was the only Featherweight Champion that the UFC had ever had, because he held onto his title for so long.
However, the surging Conor McGregor, who was the interim Featherweight Champion at the time, shocked the world, by KO’ing McGregor in 13 seconds. This further projected Mcgregor’s global fame.
4. McGregor v Diaz – UFC 196 – 1,500,000 PPV Buys – $80 million
McGregor v Diaz 1 took place at UFC 196. It was the 4th largest UFC PPV event in the promotion’s history. It brought in just over $80 million.
Mcgregor had just KO’d Jose Aldo, the greatest Featherweight of all time, and he looked to be unstoppable. When his slated title fight against the then Lightweight champion, Rafael Dos Anjos, was called off due to an foot injury for RDA, McGregor took a short notice fight against Nate Diaz.
This time, it was Diaz’s turn to shock the world. He choked out a very fatigued McGregor, to win the fight by rear-naked choke.
3. Lesnar v Mir 2 – UFC 100 – 1,600,000 PPV Buys – $82 million
Lesnar v Mir 2 was a grudge rematch that had all UFC fans interested. Lesnar was one of the UFC’s biggest global stars and UFC 100 drew in $82 million.
Lesnar v Mir 1 ended with Mir claiming victory, when Lesnar tapped to a leg submission. However, Lesnar would get his revenge when he knocked out Frank Mir with nasty ground and pound.
2. McGregor v Diaz 2 – UFC 202 – 1,650,000 PPV Buys – $90 million
After shocking the MMA world in their first fight, Diaz would return to fight Conor McGregor in a 2nd fight at Welterweight. The highly anticipated rematch took place at UFC 202 and the UFC took home $90 million in their 2nd largest PPV event.
The rematch was a gruelling battle between the two competitors. However, It was McGregor who emerged victorious this time, winning a decision victory.
1. McGregor v Nurmagomedov – UFC 229 – 2,400,000 PPV buys – $180m
McGregor v Khabib Nurmagomedov is the biggest PPV event in UFC history. The build up to this fight was nothing short of electric.
Khabib was an undefeated fighter, who was the UFC Lightweight Champion and McGregor had just come off a boxing fight to Floyd Mayweather.
MMA fans believed that if there was anyone who would defeat Khabib, it would be Conor and his devastating left hand.
On top of the intriguing skillset match-up, there was personal drama to draw viewers in as well. McGregor famously threw a dolly at the bus which Khabib was on.
Khabib won the fight by a submission choke.
So there you have it, those are the 5 biggest PPV events in UFC history. Unsurprisingly, MMA’s biggest superstar, Conor McGregor featured in 4 out of 5 of them.
