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

#4 UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 (2016) – 1.6m pay-per-view buys

UFC 196 was initially supposed to see UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor move up to challenge UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. However, when RDA went down with a broken foot, the promotion was forced to scramble.

They threw together a welterweight bout between McGregor and Nate Diaz, and ended up stunned when the fight – which Diaz won in the second round – broke the UFC’s pay-per-view buy rate record, a figure that stood since 2009’s UFC 100 and seemed almost insurmountable.

Naturally, the UFC capitalized on that and booked an instant rematch, hoping that fans would buy into the narrative that McGregor and Diaz had unfinished business.

Strangely enough, at first, it didn’t feel like they did. UFC 202 didn’t seem to be garnering the hype that the first meeting between the two did, and many hardcore fans felt that both men had “jumped the shark” when they caused chaos at a pre-fight press conference by hurling cans of energy drink at one another.

However, that wild press conference clearly piqued the interest of casual fans, and UFC 202 ended up drawing a monstrous 1.6m buys on pay-per-view, completely overshadowing their first clash and smashing the UFC’s buy rate record in the process.

The fans who tuned in were treated to a classic back-and-forth war, and with a trilogy bout between the two still possible, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the promotion return to this particular well in the near future.

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#3 UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 (2021) – 1.6m pay-per-view buys

When Conor McGregor returned to MMA in 2020 following two years away and shellacked Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, he instantly regained any luster he’d lost in his defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

McGregor reportedly wanted to fight on multiple occasions that year, but the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to those ideas, forcing him out for another year. Unsurprisingly though, his lengthy absence didn’t affect his drawing power.

‘The Notorious’ returned to action this January at UFC 257, facing old rival Dustin Poirier, who he’d originally defeated back in 2014. The UFC built the show up to be one of the promotion’s biggest, particularly as it was the first to have a full live crowd in attendance since the pandemic.

It came as no surprise to learn that the show sold hugely on pay-per-view, drawing 1.6m buys. Millions of people tuned in to see Poirier take revenge on the Irishman by knocking him out in the second round.

The show was yet another reminder of McGregor’s insane star power, but it was also a sign that Poirier’s own status as a drawing card was beginning to grow.