Top UFC PPV Draws (facts)

[DatSamboKid]

Fighters on this list are ranked from first to last based on the total and average amount of PPV buys.

Note:

-Fighter must be Main or Co-Main event of a card.
-A could of added more fighters such as Penn, Evans, Griffin..etc but it would take to longer.
-I triple checked, but I probably still have mistakes. Sorry in advance.

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1. Conor McGregor

-UFC 189: McGregor vs Mendes - 825k
-UFC 194: McGregor vs Aldo - 1.025 mil
-UFC 196: McGregor vs Diaz 1 - 1.32 mil
-UFC 202: McGregor vs Diaz 2 - 1.65 mil
-UFC 205: McGregor vs Alvarez - 1.3 mil
* McGregor vs Mayweather - 4.3 mil

Total amount of PPV's sold: 10'420'000 (including Mayweather) 6'120'000 (excluding)
Average number of PPV buys: 1'736'666 (including Mayweather) 1'224'000 (excluding)

*Very impressive to see the total and average amount of PPV's sold with so little fights in the UFC. McGregor is definitely "P4P' the top draw the UFC has ever had, including or excluding the Mayweather fight.


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2. George St-Pierre

-UFC 65: GSP vs Hughes - 500k
-UFC 69: GSP vs Serra 1 - 400k
-UFC 74: Couture vs Gonzaga - 520k
-UFC 79: GSP vs Hughes 3 - 620k
-UFC 83: GSP vs Serra 2 - 530k
-UFC 87: GSP vs Fitch - 625k
-UFC 94: GSP vs Penn 2 - 920k
-UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir 2 - 1.6m
-UFC 111: GSP vs Hardy - 770k
-UFC 124: GSP vs Koscheck - 785k
-UFC 129: GSP vs Shields - 800k
-UFC 154: GSP vs Condit - 700k
-UFC 158: GSP vs Diaz - 950k
-UFC 167: GSP vs Hendricks - 630k
-UFC 217: GSP vs Bisping - 825k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 11'175'00
Average number of PPV buys: 745'000

*George St-Pierre is the fighter who sold the most amount of PPV's at 11.1 mil. GSP is a very consistent draw. If it wasn't for his average number of PPV's being 500k - 1 mil lower to McGregor's, he would be N.1.

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3. Brock Lesnar

-UFC 81: Sylvia vs Nog - 600k
-UFC 87: GSP vs Fitch - 625k
-UFC 91: Lesnar vs Couture - 1.01 mil
-UFC 100: Lesnar vs Mir 2 - 1.6 mil
-UFC 116: Lesnar vs Carwin - 1.06 mil
-UFC 121: Lesnar vs Velasquez - 900k
-UFC 141: Lesnar vs Overeem - 535k
-UFC 200: Tate vs Nunes - 1.01 mil

Total amount of PPV's sold: 7'340'000
Average number of PPV buys: 917'500

*Lesnar takes third. Less PPV's sold than GSP but a higher average.

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4. Ronda Rousey

-UFC 157: Rousey vs Carmouche - 450k
-UFC 168: Silva vs Weidman 2 - 1.02 mil
-UFC 170: Rousey vs McMann - 350k
-UFC 175: Weidman vs Machida - 545k
-UFC 184: Rousey vs Zingano - 600k
-UFC 190: Rousey vs Betch - 900k
-UFC 193: Rousey vs Holms - 1.1 mil
-UFC 207: Rousey vs Nunes - 1.1 mil

Total amount of PPV's sold: 6'065'000
Average number of PPV buys: 758'125

* Another fighter who pullied impressive number for the amount of events fought. Higher average than GSP, but almost half the total amount of PPV's sold.

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5. Anderson Silva

-UFC 64: Silva vs Franklin - 300k
-UFC 67: Silva vs Lutter - 400k
-UFC 73: Ortiz vs Evans - 425k
-UFC 77: Silva vs Franklin 2 - 325k
-UFC 85: Silva vs Henderson - 320k
-UFC 90: Silva vs Cote - 300k
-UFC 97: Silva vs Leites - 670k
-UFC 101: Penn vs Florian - 850k
-UFC 112: Silva vs Maia - 500k
-UFC 117: Silva vs Sonnen 1 - 600k
-UFC 126: Silva vs Belfort - 725k
-UFC 134: Silva vs Okami - 334k
-UFC 148: Silva vs Sonnen 2 - 925k
-UFC 153: Silva vs Bonnar - 410k
-UFC 162: Silva vs Weidman 1 - 550k
-UFC 168: Silva vs Weidman 2 - 1.02 mil
-UFC 183: Silva vs Diaz - 650k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 9'304'000
Average number of PPV buys: 547'294

*Anderson Silva is another example of consistency. Although his average number of sales is much lower than the fighters above him, he was the main or co-main event on 17 UFC cards. He sold the second largest total amount of UFC PPV's behind GSP.

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6. Jon Jones

-UFC 128: Jones vs Shogun - 490k
-UFC 135: Jones vs Rampage - 520k
-UFC 140: Jones vs Machida - 480k
-UFC 145: Jones vs Evans - 700k
-UFC 152: Jones vs Belfort - 450k
-UFC 159: Jones vs Sonnen - 530k
-UFC 165: Jones vs Gustafsson - 320k
-UFC 172: Jones vs Taxeira - 350k
-UFC 182: Jones vs Cormier 1 - 800k
-UFC 197: Jones vs St-Preux - 322k
-UFC 217: Jones vs Cormier 2 - 850k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 5'812'000
Average number of PPV buys: 528'363

*Yes Jonathan Jones made it here. Had and still has a lot of potential to draw big numbers.

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7. Chuck Liddel

-UFC 40: Ortiz vs Shamrock - 100k
-UFC 43: Couture vs Liddel - 49k
-UFC 47: Ortiz vs Liddel - 105k
-UFC 52: Couture vs Liddel 2 - 280k
-UFC 54: Liddel vs Horn - 150k
-UFC 57: Liddel vs Couture 3 - 400k
-UFC 62: Liddel vs Sobral - 500k
-UFC 66: Liddle vs Ortiz 2 - 1.05 mil
-UFC 71: Liddel vs Rampage - 675k
-UFC 76: Liddel vs Jardine - 475k
-UFC 79: GSP vs Hughes 3 - 620k
-UFC 88: Liddel vs Evans - 480k
-UFC 115: Liddle vs Franklin - 525k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 5'409'000
Average number of PPV buys: 416'076

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8. Randy Couture

-UFC 34: Couture vs Rizzo - 65k
-UFC 36: Couture vs Barnett - 55k
-UFC 39: Couture vs Rodriguez - 45k
-UFC 43: Couture vs Liddel - 49k
-UFC 44: Couture vs Ortiz - 94k
-UFC 46: Couture vs Belfort 2 - 80k
-UFC 49: Couture vs Belfort 3 - 80k
-UFC 52: Couture vs Liddel 2 - 280k
-UFC 68: Sylvia vs Couture - 540k
-UFC 74: Couture vs Gonzaga - 520k
-UFC 91: Lesnar vs Couture - 1.01 mil
-UFC 102: Couture vs Nogueira - 435k
-UFC 109: Couture vs Coleman - 275k
-UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 - 535k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 4'063'000
Average number of PPV buys: 290'214

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9. Tito Ortiz

-UFC 33: Ortiz vs Matyushenko - 75k
-UFC 40: Ortiz vs Shamrock - 100k
-UFC 44: Couture vs Ortiz - 94k
-UFC 47: Ortiz vs Liddel - 105k
-UFC 50: Ortiz vs Cote - 50k
-UFC 51: Ortiz vs Belfort - 105k
-UFC 59: Ortiz vs Griffins - 425k
-UFC 61: Ortiz vs Shamrock - 775k
-UFC 66: Liddle vs Ortiz 2 - 1.05 mil
-UFC 73: Ortiz v Evans - 430k
-UFC 106: Ortiz vs Griffins: 375k

Total amount of PPV's sold: 2'809'000
Average number of PPV buys: 255'363


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Analysis

Most Amount of PPV's sold:

1. George St-Pierre (11'175'000)
2. *Conor McGregor (10'420'000) including Mayweather fight*
2. Anderson Silva (9'304'000)
3. Brock Lesnar (7'340'000)
4.*Conor McGregor (6'120'000) excluding Mayweather fight*
5. Ronda Rousey (6'050'000)

Average Number of PPV buys:

1. Conor McGregor (1'736'000/1'224'000)
2. Brock Lesnar (917'500)
3. Ronda Rousey (758'125)
4. George St-Pierre (745'000)
5. Anderson Silva (548'294)

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Honorable Mention:

Floyd 'Money' Mayweather

-Mayweather vs Gatti - 365k
-Mayweather vs Judah - 375k
-Mayweather vs Baldomir - 325k
-Mayweather vs De la Hoya - 2.48 mil
-Mayeather vs Hatton - 920k
-Mayweather vs Marquez - 1.1 mil
-Mayweather vs Mosley - 1.4 mil
-Mayweather vs Ortiz - 1.25 mil
-Mayweather vs Cotto - 1.5 mil
-Mayweather vs Guerrero - 840k
-Mayweather vs Alvarez - 2.2 mil
-Mayweather vs Pacquiao - 4.6 mil
-Mayweather vs Berto - 400k
-Mayweather vs McGregor - 4.3 mil

Total amount of PPV's sold: 20'555'000
Average number of PPV buys: 1'468'214.29

They call him the PPV king for a reason.

 

[davidlemonparty]

Nice man did you put that together or CandP from somewhere

 

[TheIrishPsycho]

 

[WeedLordBonerHitler]

Hey great list! What was Demetrius Johnson or Amanda Nunes? Dead last lol?

 

[Summoning]

 

[DatSamboKid]

Nice man did you put that together or CandP from somewhere

Put it all together. 90mins.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Put it all together. 90mins.

Good work bruh

 

[Taric]

I bet Rashad is high up on the list. I know UFC 92 & 114 did really well.

 

[davidlemonparty]

Put it all together. 90mins.

Good work man. Strong original content.
It'd be interesting to cross reference when the listed fighters were on each others cards. Did you see much of that in your analysis?

 

[HomeRun916]

Unsure of why this is important.

 

[DatSamboKid]

Good work man. Strong original content.
It'd be interesting to cross reference when the listed fighters were on each others cards. Did you see much of that in your analysis?

Yes, Couture, Ortiz, GSP, Liddel and Brock have all headlined cards together pre UFC 120ish.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Hey great list! What was Demetrius Johnson or Amanda Nunes? Dead last lol?

Nunes was averging a million buys at one point.

 

[DatSamboKid]

Unsure of why this is important.

I’ve read a couple times people claiming GSP or Silva were never draws. Or some argue Ronda or Lesnar were the biggest stars. Sometimes Jones isn’t even in the conversation as far as a top PPV draw.

 

[Ry4n]

Thank you big man, interesting read.

Ronda kept rising in her PPV numbers even against low draw competition. I'm curious on whether she could've maintained 1mil + across couple more fights

 

[Kryptt]

Nice, always appreciate side scope info.

 

[Ghostoftheville]

Hey great list! What was Demetrius Johnson or Amanda Nunes? Dead last lol?

Johnson and Nunes have four of the lowest ppv buys in the modern era. TJ is right behind them

 

[DatSamboKid]

Thank you big man, interesting read.

Ronda kept rising in her PPV numbers even against low draw competition. I'm curious on whether she could've maintained 1mil + across couple more fights

Yes it’s impressive how she grew fast. Went from 350k, to 550k, to 600k, to 900k, to 1.1 mil. She definitely could’ve been a massive massive star if she kept that impressive winning streak going.

 

[PAPERCLIP30]

Pretty much what I’d expect.

Kinda unfair for chuck/randy/Tito because the buyrates were much lower back then. Wonder what they’d be at modern day

 

[PAPERCLIP30]

I’ve read a couple times people claiming GSP or Silva were never draws. Or some argue Ronda or Lesnar were the biggest stars. Sometimes Jones isn’t even in the conversation as far as a top PPV draw.

Did people actually say GSP wasn’t a draw?? I don’t doubt it but that’s so silly, GSP was a ppv powerhouse. Talk about noobies

 

[Kryptt]

I’ve read a couple times people claiming GSP or Silva were never draws. Or some argue Ronda or Lesnar were the biggest stars. Sometimes Jones isn’t even in the conversation as far as a top PPV draw.