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UFC is not WWE as most martial arts fans would loudly tell you. UFC is a legitimate fighting competition and wins and losses matter as the more victories you earn, the quicker up the rankings you ascend until you secure a title shot and hopefully a Championship win.
While in WWE, the focus for a performer is getting over with the crowd to earn creative attention from the booking squad and conceivably earn more money, in UFC you have to win; popularity counts for little.
However, despite popularity contests not being a pre-requisite for success; see Brock Lesnar or Quinton Jackson for proof, it certainly helps a performer's marketability and drawing power.
Back in the early days of the UFC, two men stood out from the crowd. One of those fighters was serial, unflashy winner, Royce Gracie who won three of the first five UFC tournaments and the other was the charismatic, muscular and dynamic, Ken Shamrock.
UFC fans would often boo the incredible talents of Gracie and cheer the less successful exploits of bigger personality, Shamrock.
When Shamrock finally got the better of Gracie in their much-anticipated singles clash at UFC 5 (despite the match being ruled a draw, in the absence of judges, the consensus was Shamrock was the clear victor), it was he who was given the keys to the kingdom as the UFC's top star, not Gracie, despite the fact Shamrock had and would never win a UFC tournament in his entire career.
Gracie would not compete again in MMA until the Pride Grand Prix in January 2000 in Japan.
Shamrock meanwhile would become the organisation's first Superfight Champion and would be the company's number one fighter until he left to compete in the World Wrestling Federation and achieve even greater fame and fortune.
That demonstrates that in some cases, popularity in UFC can be equally if not more important than wins or losses in some cases.
In the following slideshow, SK looks at the five most popular Champions in UFC history.
Check Out: UFC Champions as of 2021
#5 Chuck Liddell (Light-Heavyweight Champion, 2005-07)
Chuck Liddell was box office dynamite in the mid 2000's and had dynamite in his fists as well.
13 of Liddell's MMA wins came via Knockout as his UFC career was a highlight reel of devastating Knockouts.
His reign as Light-Heavyweight Champion is still revered to this day.
Liddell's Light-Heavyweight Championship win finally came at UFC 52 versus the man who defeated him for the Interim belt two years earlier at UFC 43, Randy Couture.
Having pursued that title for four years, the MMA audience was desperate to see "The Iceman" finally claim gold. He did and a huge audience of 280,000 paid to see him do it via pay per view.
Numbers talk and those figures demonstrate the immense popularity of the man. His main events at UFC 57 and UFC 62 both surpassed 400,000 buys and his UFC 66 title defence versus Tito Ortiz was the first MMA show to break 1 million pay per view orders.
Liddell was one of the most popular UFC Champions in history.
#4 Daniel Cormier (UFC Light Heavyweight Champion 2015-present, UFC Heavyweight Champion 2018 - present)
Daniel Cormier is one of the most popular UFC fighters of all time and his Championship reigns have been spectacularly well received.
Most recently, Cormier was roared to victory by an expectant crowd at UFC 226 when he ended the most successful Heavyweight Championship reign in history when he upended Stipe Miocic to win the belt.
Fans were 100% on his side when he was confronted by Brock Lesnar post fight too as the former UFC Heavyweight Champion made it clear he wanted the belt back.
The bout drew 380,000 buys on pay per view which was seen as a disappointment but by the standards of the time, it was better than the vast majority of UFC events.
Cormier's best numbers came when his re-match with Jon Jones at UFC 214 drew a mammoth 800,000 buys.
Expect this weekend's pay per view, UFC 230 with Cormier headlining versus Derrick Lewis to draw a big number as well.
#3 George St. Pierre (Welterweight Champion, 2006-07 and 2008-13), Middleweight Champion 2017)
George St. Pierre is unquestionably one of the most popular Champions, UFC has ever produced. Winning his first gold, the Welterweight Championship at UFC 65 where he overcame the long-time figurehead of the promotion, Matt Hughes.
From there, GSP's polite and unassuming demeanour won plaudits and praise from all corners of the MMA world. In a profession where trash talking and brash personalities usually put the paying customers in their seats.
However, it was GSP's fighting skills that won him fans all over the world.
In his second run as Champion, GSP reigned as Welterweight Champion for an uninterrupted four years between 2008-13 and in that time was responsible for some enormous buyrates, most notably at UFC 94 versus BJ Penn which drew 920,000 buys and versus Nick Diaz at UFC 158 which pulled a 950,000 buyrate.
After a prolonged break from the sport, GSP's popularity had not diminished and his comeback fight versus Michael Bisping at UFC 217 drew another mammoth buyrate of 875,000 buys.
GSP is still one of the most popular stars the UFC has to offer. 14 years after his UFC debut.
#2 Randy Couture (Heavyweight Champion 1997-98, 2000-02 and 2007-08, Light Heavyweight Champion 2003-04 and 2004-05)
"Captain America" was the most popular fighter in UFC during his peak years of 2000 to 2008. Those years encompassed four of his five title reigns: two at Heavyweight and two more at Light-Heavyweight.
Couture was the clear crowd favourite in his trilogy of bouts with Chuck Liddell and his UFC 44 clash with another hugely popular superstar, Tito Ortiz.
The crowd was deafening when Couture finished Liddell off via TKO at UFC 43 and won via Unanimous Decision versus Ortiz at UFC 44.
UFC 68 which was built around Couture's comeback from retirement to face Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia drew an incredible 520,000 pay per view orders.
His successful title defence versus Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 also pulled 520,000 buys. Make no mistake, it was Couture who earned those numbers.
UFC 91 which featured Couture's final return in a title defence versus Brock Lesnar smashed UFC's pay per view record, with over a million orders. Not bad for a 45 year old in the winter of his career.
Couture is a living legend and has a strong case for the most popular fighter ever. However, there is one man who just edges him out.
#1 Conor McGregor (Featherweight Champion 2015-16, Lightweight Champion 2016-17)
7 million Twitter followers says it all. "Notorious" Conor McGregor is the most popular MMA fighter of them all. He is one of few athletes who transcend their sport into the mainstream.
Everybody knows who McGregor is and what he is all about.
The fact that McGregor has been one half of the main event in four of the five highest drawing UFC cards in history says it all.
His now infamous UFC 229 headline bout with Lightweight Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov pulled an astronomical 2.4 million orders; by far the largest number in UFC history. McGregor has pulled over a million buys at four other UFC events as well.
His boxing match with the despised, Floyd Mayweather Jr pulled an eye-watering 4.3 million pay per view buys and is the second highest pay per view number in any sport, ever, behind the "Fight of the Century" between Mayweather and Pacquiao back in May 2015 and was a pop culture sensation.
Even a criminal conviction hasn't turned the public against him after "Notorious" recklessly threw a metal dolly at the UFC bus in which several fighters and other UFC personnel were on board.
Khabib was the target, but it was UFC combatants Ray Borg and Michael Chiesa who were injured by shattered glass as the window smashed. Both fighters were pulled from the subsequent UFC 223 card in which they were booked.
It was a major headache for UFC and a deeply regrettable incident which saw McGregor convicted on a count of disorderly conduct after originally being charged far more serious charges such as assault.
However, as far as a majority of MMA fans are concerned, McGregor can do little wrong and is, and will likely be for some considerable time, the most popular act the UFC have to offer.
