The 5 biggest selling pay-per-views in UFC history

#2 UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 (2021) – 1.8m pay-per-view buys

Reports now coming out suggest that UFC 264 – which took place this past weekend – drew a massive 1.8m pay-per-view buys, making it the second biggest-selling show in UFC history.

UFC 264’s monster buy rate shows that Conor McGregor has now reached a level of stardom where, seemingly at least, losses, scandals and a downturn in his actual fighting game won’t affect how much people want to see him fight.

This is a complete contrast to the likes of Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz, fighters who were once big draws but saw their selling power slowly erode as the losses began to stack up later in their careers.

McGregor was badly knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 – just six months before UFC 264 – and so despite plenty of fans picking him to win their third bout, the truth is that it was always unlikely.

Poirier simply looked to be on another level to ‘Notorious’ in that second fight, and so it came as no real surprise when ‘Diamond’ also defeated McGregor in their third meeting, albeit after a nasty injury to the Irishman.

But the Irishman’s star power simply cannot be underestimated at this stage. This was a fight that he was never likely to win, a fight backed up by a less-than-stellar undercard and one we’d only seen six months prior, and it still drew ridiculous numbers.

If any fans really believe the UFC will look to slash McGregor’s pay or move him down the card any time soon, they should probably think again. UFC 264 is proof that he remains their biggest drawing card, and a show headlined by ‘Notorious’ against an unknown opponent would probably still sell.

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#1 UFC 229: Khabib vs. McGregor (2018) – 2.4m pay-per-view buys

The biggest selling pay-per-view in the history of the promotion remains 2018’s UFC 229, which saw Khabib Nurmagomedov defend his lightweight title against former champion Conor McGregor, the UFC’s biggest-ever drawing card.

With a lengthy feud to build the fight up that even saw unsavory incidents such as UFC 223’s infamous dolly throwing, it was clear that the clamor for Khabib vs. McGregor had reached levels never seen before in the UFC.

However, few people expected it to draw so well on pay-per-view. McGregor’s rivalry with Nate Diaz had surpassed everyone’s expectations, but UFC 202 had drawn 1.6m pay-per-view buys. Nobody could’ve seen UFC 229 increase that number by another 800k.

Of course, the event itself turned out to be an outright classic, ending with a melee in the octagon after Khabib submitted McGregor in the fourth round.

The most fascinating thing about UFC 229 was that everyone involved came out as a winner of sorts. The UFC obviously pulled in millions of dollars from the event, while McGregor’s drawing power was not hurt by his loss to Khabib – shown by the fact that three of the five biggest-selling pay-per-views in promotional history were headlined by the Irishman after UFC 229.

Khabib, on the other hand, saw his star power increase dramatically after his win over ‘Notorious.’

Already a huge superstar in his native Russia, UFC 229 catapulted Khabib into worldwide stardom, and the next two shows he headlined were reportedly big hits on pay-per-view. However, official buy rate numbers were never released.