Underrated stat: Lyoto Machida sold total of 5 million PPVs for the UFC

[Russie]

LHW division was the place that had the eyes of fight fans. Lyoto had a nice run and really captured the interest of many fans. He had that unique style of his and we viewed with anticipation of who could crack it. I was there when he defeated Rashad. I wasn't happy at all about him winning since I was a big fan of Rashad but I extended my respect to Lyoto.

 

[VinceArch]

2006-2011 was a great era at LHW, so many good fights.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

2006-2011 was a great era at LHW, so many good fights.

Totally agree, the era of LHW was so much fun, so many great fighters. I wish we could go back to that time, I loved it. every event was pure hype and must watch

 

[MrCoffee]

The Machida era delivered.

That was one of the best eras for Sherdog forums as well.

 

[nostradumbass]

PPV numbers had a higher average before the ESPN+ deal. PPVs were like $45 or something when Machida won the title, then they kept increasing the price, then you had to subscribe to another service just to be able to pay $80 on top of that. 400-500k was pretty average.

They would get over 1M buys a few times/year before ESPN, and the only ones that sold over 1M after were a couple Conor cards and Usman/Masvidal during covid lockdowns when other sports had their seasons cancelled.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Since UFC 98 I've never missed a numbered event since.

Seeing Machida dispatch Rashad Evans to become the Middleweight champ was the first event I ever watched live, at the time I thought it was one of the greatest things I have ever seen, and to this day it's still up there along with his knockout of Couture and Belfort.

Yes. Let us never forget. Machida gave us Shad face. And then he drank his own piss with his father.

 

[VinceArch]

Totally agree, the era of LHW was so much fun, so many great fighters. I wish we could go back to that time, I loved it. every event was pure hype and must watch

Chuck/Rampage, Forrest/Shogun, Hendo/Franklin/ Lyoto/Rashad and so many more and the caper which is top 3 best fights of all time IMO of course, Shogun/Hendo.

 

[ufcfan4]

he was entertaining as fook. broke my heart watching him decline

cheers to any Machida fans still out there

Always one of my favorites. In fact, the card where Penn beat Sherk, Wandy blitzed The Dean of Mean, and Lyoto beat Tito was really the first UFC PPV I recall watching in full. I was a big fan of his upon watching that fight.

I think Shogun vs. Machida I is one of the best UFC title fights ever.

 

[Captain Herb]

Way underrated. Filthy casuals had no idea who he was

 

[Dr Fong]

Listing co-mains is silly. Could have just stuck to the actual main events and it would have been impressive enough.

The most underrated PPV star in UFC history is actually Rashad Evans, who was the reason for Machida's highest drawing PPV (note Machida-Evans did more than Machida-Jones).

Rashad did two million+ PPVs and two 600k+ PPVS.

He was Machida's, Rampage's and Griffin's highest drawing opponent and Jon Jones' equal second.

 

[Langinbang187]

Loved that era of LHW, and then Jones beat them all like they didn't even belong in the cage with him. Insane looking back.

The version of Shogun that Jones fought was three ACL tears deep...he was absolutely cooked.

Rampage was well past it as well.

I think Lyoto was still in his physical prime, just too small, Rashad as well.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

All due respect to Machida, who was a great fighter and champion...but we also need to give credit to the opponents too.

I'm pretty sure the likes of Jones, Shogun, Rampage, etc. contributed to those numbers...and when we look at the cards where he was co-main, obviously we need to consider the main event.

The top drawing fight on the whole list was UFC 94, headlined by GSP-Penn...Machida did not sell those PPVs as evidenced by the drop-off for the next-highest fight...and UFC 157 was headlined by Ronda in her UFC debut.

Again...all respect to Machida, but thread title is a bit over-the-top.

Every PPV he headlined drew half a million. That's good numbers. If all his opponents are big draws...then that is because he is a draw too. That is how matchmaking works.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Listing co-mains is silly. Could have just stuck to the actual main events and it would have been impressive enough.

The most underrated PPV star in UFC history is actually Rashad Evans, who was the reason for Machida's highest drawing PPV (note Machida-Evans did more than Machida-Jones).

Rashad did two million+ PPVs and two 600k+ PPVS.

He was Machida's, Rampage's and Griffin's highest drawing opponent and Jon Jones' equal second.

While this is true, Rashad vs Griffin had a crazy undercard which included Rampage (who is a draw himself) and Mir vs Nogueira which was a conclusion fight from a TUF season.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

PPV numbers had a higher average before the ESPN+ deal. PPVs were like $45 or something when Machida won the title, then they kept increasing the price, then you had to subscribe to another service just to be able to pay $80 on top of that. 400-500k was pretty average.

They would get over 1M buys a few times/year before ESPN, and the only ones that sold over 1M after were a couple Conor cards and Usman/Masvidal during covid lockdowns when other sports had their seasons cancelled.

Inflation adjusted they are about the same price as today, albeit with a subscription needed cause ESPN sucks.

 

[Dr Fong]

While this is true, Rashad vs Griffin had a crazy undercard which included Rampage (who is a draw himself) and Mir vs Nogueira which was a conclusion fight from a TUF season.

Rashad did more vs Griffin than Rampage and Tito did.

He did more vs Machida than Jon Jones, Rampage, Shogun and Weidman did.

He did more vs Rampage than Chuck, Jon Jones, Machida or Griffin did. A lot more too.

Rashad vs Jones did the same as the highly anticipated Jones-Gus rematch, and didn't do significantly less than the Cormier grudge matches.

You can pointlessly try to pick holes in it if you like, but the numbers are irrefutable and don't lie.

 

[orca]

an amazing era
rashad evans alone would double leg the sht out of roundtree and its an easy win lmfao

rashad is one of those many killers anf hes also underated

today LHW is trashy

 

[surgeyou1]

Really shows how no one gave a shit about Phil Davis lol

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Rashad did more vs Griffin than Rampage and Tito did.

He did more vs Machida than Jon Jones, Rampage, Shogun and Weidman did.

He did more vs Rampage than Chuck, Jon Jones, Machida or Griffin did. A lot more too.

Rashad vs Jones did the same as the highly anticipated Jones-Gus rematch, and didn't do significantly less than the Cormier grudge matches.

You can pointlessly try to pick holes in it if you like, but the numbers are irrefutable and don't lie.

Pick holes in what?...Rampage was literally on the Griffin vs Evans card and wasn't even the co main. Makes no sense to reference that.

I never said that Evans wasn't a draw, just that him vs Griffin didn't just sell a million because people were enamored with Rashad Evans. Can literally take one glimpse at the card and see why it sold a million.

 

[whooty]

You're right but JONES was so much bigger than they allllll were-----weight classes exist for a reason. He made weight so it was legal but he was much much larger.

I think he was just better tbh. I mean I love that era of guys, but Jones was, regardless of size, just better.

Overeem fought a lot of them in Pride too before he got on the horsemeat, and he had an 80’ reach and skills too. Theres plenty of lanky guys, remember Jones legs were skinny so in the beginning I don’t think he was that much heavier. I just write it off to amazing skill tbh.

Also a much more thick Jones weighed in at 248 vs Gane, so I’m gonna estimate he wasn’t much over 220/230 when fighting LHW which is comparable to most those guys. They all just carried way more muscle

 

[Dr Fong]

Pick holes in what?...Rampage was literally on the Griffin vs Evans card and wasn't even the co main. Makes no sense to reference that.

I never said that Evans wasn't a draw, just that him vs Griffin didn't just sell a million because people were enamored with Rashad Evans. Can literally take one glimpse at the card and see why it sold a million.

Anyone with any knowledge of the PPV model will tell you that the main event is the primary driver of PPV buys - there are rare exceptions, but rare is the important word. Most cards from that era had strong names on the undercard.

You are simply ignoring evidence. If Evans didn't have an established pattern of being a very strong main event draw, then your argument might have some weight. But he did, so it doesn't.