I'll post what I posted in another thread.
50 years or more, Conor got the Mayweather rub and then went on to sell 2.4mil buys against the future GOAT LW who many people felt was a terrible matchup for him, not only was this Khabib guy the future LW GOAT but he was also undefeated and had support from large parts of the eastern world.
Mayweather, the biggest PPV wizard of all time
Mcgregor, the biggest star in MMA history by a MILE
Khabib, just the greatest LW of all time with an undefeated record and at the peak of his powers, top 20 fighter ever.
Jose Aldo, GOAT FW and living legend brought down in 13 seconds, flipping the entire MMA world upside down.
Nate Diaz, the ultimate anti-establishment star for the hardcores who started his career during the height of TUF. Basically the ultimate nemesis for Mcgregor.
Then you have other guys like De la hoya who helped Mayweather become the star he was, with a top 5 PPV in the history of combat sports.
These guys were all a huge part of the Mcgregor story and success, you won't get this mix of talent, revenue, and star power for atleast the next 50 years, maybe ever.
That's not even mentioning how great Aldo was and how defeating him helped catapult Conor to the moon, so you'll likely need another GOAT contender somewhere in the story.
This new person would not only have to be a huge PPV attraction himself, he'll need multiple top 5-20 all time great fighters to overcome, plus a cult favorite like Nate Diaz in there. Then he'll need to remain undefeated for a long portion of his career and hope for some kind of crossover madness with another GOAT tier PPV star, because you aren't approaching 2mil buys without some kind of luck, you'd need someone like Mayweather who's had bigger fights than you to join the fray. So Conor or Canelo would have to come out of retirement to fight this guy.
Even guys like Izzy who had a name before MMA, is super flashy, has great charisma, came into MMA blazing hot, with an undefeated record all the way to the title, even he isn't anywhere near this equation. We witnessed a weird time in history, I don't think this is happening again. In fact I'd go as far as it never happening in the lifetime of anyone on this forum, because if legends like Jones and DC can't even approach the numbers needed, it doesn't seem possible.
Maybe if the UFC goes back to open weight competition so more stars can enter the fray, some avengers shit. Because Khabib, Conor, Mayweather, Aldo, Diaz, these guys aren't all going to be replaced all at the same time, realistically they may never be replaced with an equivalent. I mean what are the chances of a cult star like Diaz? A tuf OG who fought alongside his well known BROTHER IN THE SAME ORGANIZATION! A guy who had already fought for a world title and built his name up, a guy who was an absolute bad ass. That's not even mentioning the other 4 who are either GOAT tiers fighters or GOAT tier stars, or both. Then you have to factor the calcification of wealth world wide, and how that will effect PPV buy rates into the future, in consort with modern piracy and technology.
The story and recipe had to be so perfect for MMA to reach that 2.4mil mark, then you have to include that none of these guys suffered major injuries during these moments, then you have to factor guys like RDA who got injured and never got to stop the absolute avalanche of hype that was Conor Mcgregor at the time. If that cocky undisciplined version of Conor got smashed by RDA, he would've never gotten the Mayweather fight, everything had to go perfect.
Then even if you find someone who has immense star power they not only have to be a great fighter and get lucky with matchups and injuries, they also have to speak fluent english to even sniff the 1mil+ buy range, let alone 2mil+ so that shrinks things even further.
Naw this isn't happening again, the Mayweather rub was real, even Conor at his peak couldn't do anything close to 2mil until Mayweather joined in. Enjoy the big moments we have now, because we are long overdue for another dark age. Coming to any other conclusion honestly sounds like wishful thinking, look at stars like Tyson who fought in the 80's! It's almost 40 years later and he's still that guy, 3 of the top 10 PPV events EVER!
So we're going to get a star massively bigger than Tyson or Conor? Not plausible especially with millennials having no money to spend on these fights.
Conor did 1.3mil against Eddie
Conor just did 1.6 against Dustin
Superstars like Izzy can't even sniff these numbers, let alone the 2.4-2.5 record at UFC 229.
Even Ronda won't be replaced in WMMA, she came up when the product was fresh and new in the UFC. Now fans are pretty fed up with how WMMA has been handled in the UFC, and the combination of talents, looks, marketing needed to build a WMMA star isn't easy. You can be a KO king like Amanda and still not become a big star, you need to speak english, have good looks, and have a style pleasing to the eye.
I remember actually watching Rousey vs Tate on Tuf, now days you'd have to pay me to watch Tuf. All of that stuff happened at a specific period in time. Now the best WMMA talent is coming from overseas. where their english isn't the best. So you can be an absolute artistic killer like Valentina and not approach Rousey numbers.
And who is going to surpass Anderson? Anderson did 1million buys against Chris weidman lol, Conor and his rise in MMA popularity has distorted what's achievable for 99% of MMA. We got really lucky.