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Conor McGregor is money. Pure and simple. His net worth stands at $85 million as of 2018, which makes him by far the richest MMA fighter in the world.
The 30-year-old has been a professional fighter since 2008 and over the course of a decade has become one of the most recognisable sporting figures in the world.
As the UFC's biggest star, it perhaps makes absolute sense then, that he is responsible for four of the five highest drawing UFC pay per view cards in company history. The one exception is UFC 100, which was a historic show headlined by another mega draw, former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar.
"Notorious" made his UFC debut back in spring 2013, after previously competing for the UK based Cage Warriors promotion. He smashed through Marcus Brimage in just 67 seconds earning him Knockout of the Night honours. From there he made his name when he overcame Max Holloway with a famous Unanimous Decision victory, which was only the American's second loss.
McGregor then began to quickly move up the card and knocked off huge names such as: Dustin Poirier, Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Eddie Alvarez, Nate Diaz and Eddie Alvarez. This run saw him win both the Featherweight and Lightweight titles, as he became the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.
After clashing with the legendary Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a Boxing match in 2016, McGregor finally returned to the Octagon in October 2018 in a one-sided loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. That proved to be his final ever MMA fight.
On March 26, 2019, McGregor announced his retirement from MMA. It is a retirement that has come out of left field as the Irishman was in training for his next fight.
It could be a power play to earn more money. It would be hard to see UFC President, Dana White not do everything in his power to keep McGregor in MMA and UFC.
After all, he remains the most successful draw in MMA history.
This slideshow looks at the most successful McGregor headlined UFC events in history.
#5 UFC 205 (1.3 million buys)
By the time November 2016 rolled around, a Conor McGregor fight was a heavily anticipated event.
It stands to reason therefore, that UFC 205 pulled a mammoth 1.3 million buys on pay per view.
McGregor successfully defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the Lightweight title and add that strap to the Featherweight Championship he already held to become the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.
Alvarez was made to look like a preliminary fighter as he could not avoid McGregor's brutal left hand.
His performance was worth every penny to those who paid to watch as he knocked out Alvarez in the second round to make history. That finish came after McGregor had knocked the champion down three times in the first round.
If anyone doubted at this point that McGregor was the real deal then this performance silenced those doubters.
#4 UFC 194 (1.4 million buys)
It hasn't happened many times in his career but Conor McGregor entered UFC 194 as the underdog.
The reason? His opponent was Jose Aldo. Aldo had only tasted defeat once in his entire career, a full decade earlier. Since that point, the Brazilian had smashed through everyone put in his path and successfully defended the Featherweight strap a record seven times in succession.
That all ended in double quick time when he stepped into the Octagon with "Notorious."
It took just 13 seconds for McGregor to wreck Aldo's fearsome reputation after he marched towards the champion and smashed him with a huge left hook that floored Aldo.
With that, McGregor announced himself as the poster boy of UFC and the company's biggest star.
The 1.4 million buys was just the start for McGregor's incredible run as MMA's biggest drawing card.
#3 UFC 196 (1.5 million buys)
UFC shocked the world when they pitted the Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor against Welterweight star, Nate Diaz at UFC 196.
It had been widely expected that McGregor's next fight would have been versus Rafael dos Anjos at Lightweight but instead the MMA world was thrown a curve ball.
However, it is one that majorly paid off.
McGregor versus Diaz was money. The two trash talked fans into parting with their money and their Welterweight scrap was well worth the price of admission.
The smaller McGregor started lively but faded and the bigger, stronger, Diaz picked him off to win the fight via submission.
This was merely a taster for what the pair would produce in an even more memorable re-match. The public's appetite was whetted too as evidenced by the buyrate UFC 202 pulled when the pair contested their famous rematch.
#2 UFC 202 (1.65 million buys)
UFC 196 was such a monumental financial success for UFC, that it was inevitable that the company would book a re-match.
However, it was a surprise when UFC managed to get the fight signed just a few short months after their UFC 196 encounter.
It was the most heavily hyped re-match in UFC history. "Notorious" Conor McGregor versus Nate Dias; the man who had inflicted McGregor's first UFC defeat on him several months earlier at UFC 196.
McGregor's performance in the headliner is among the best if not the best of his entire career as he demonstrated hugely improved conditioning to go the distance in the longest fight of his career.
The fight was a topsy-turvy contest with McGregor and Diaz both inflicting some excellent punching and leg kicks. McGregor busted Diaz open badly in the fourth round which likely was the deciding factor for the judges on who would edge this encounter.
McGregor earned the judges' call with a majority decision in a modern day classic and most significantly had won a fight against a top level opponent in yet another weight class, this time at Welterweight. 1.65 million people watched him do so.
#1 UFC 229 (2.4 million buys)
Conor McGregor vs Khabib Nurmagomedov was a pay per view monster. The richest card in MMA history was mired in controversy but was a huge money maker for UFC.
A mammoth 2.4 million people were drawn to part with their hard earned cash to see the Octagon return of McGregor in a fight with undefeated Lightweight Champion, Khabib in a deeply personal fight which captured the world's interest and attention.
Brawls, trash talk and criminal convictions all provided spice for the build up to this infamous contest.
In truth, after all the pre-fight hype, the eventual battle between the two world class fighters could not hope to follow it.
A rusty McGregor was outmatched by the clinical Khabib and finally succumbed to a fourth round choke.
The fight is best remembered though for the regretrabble post-fight melee which ensured after Khabib leapt into the crowd and punched McGregor's buddy, Dillon Danis.
Although unlikely now, following McGregor's announcement, one wonders what a McGregor-Khabib re-match would draw on pay per view.
