Who made the biggest impact and brought in the most fans

[Simple Southerner]

Everyone on that list contributed but b & d had the biggest impact imo what say you

 

[Cobra 03]

No list is complete without Tito Ortiz, the first UFC star and Badboy. Him, and his rivalry with Chuck Liddell, was when UFC really started to get noticed again, in its early years.

 

[oski]

Royce - Wandy - Rampage - Chuck - Saku

No real order, but for Royce.

 

[ArtardFiesta]

No list is complete without Tito Ortiz, the first UFC star and Badboy. Him, and his rivalry with Chuck Liddell, was when UFC really started to get noticed again, in its early years.

tito kept the ufc treading water during the dark days


bonnar vs griffen took ufc from the fringe to mainstream adoption phase

jon jones, gsp, ando being decorated champions legitimized it as a sport whereas it was seen more so as a spectacle before

connor took the ufc mainstream.

belal now will kill the ufc and bring it back to the dark ages!

 

[RockyLockridge]

it's objectively conor. Of course he poisoned the well though on his way in.

 

[Corrado Soprano]

CM Punk

 

[rear naked ankle pick]

Mokaev and Herb Dean

 

[markg171]

No list is complete without Tito Ortiz, the first UFC star and Badboy. Him, and his rivalry with Chuck Liddell, was when UFC really started to get noticed again, in its early years.

Having the Diaz Brothers there instead of some option of Tito/Chuck/Randy is a travesty.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Who brought in the most eyes?

Isn’t Lesnar’s highest selling ppv 1.1M, or 1.3M?

Conor’s is 2.5M.

What kind of retard made this list?

1. Lesnar
2. TUF

Buying into the hogwash that a TUF finale fight that not a lot of people saw in real time as number 2 is insane. Holly vs Shevchenko had 5M viewers in real time.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

 

[Pitier of Fools]

Chuck Liddell was the first legit UFC superstar. Percentage-wise, he probably sparked the biggest increase in UFC fans.

 

[BJJ4Tone]

Jason Thacker or Andy Wang.
It's close between those two.

 

[Russie]

Brock brought in a lot of eyes from WWE but they left when he got beatdown and eventually went back to the fake fights stuff.

As some have already mentioned that timeframe when Tito, Randy and Chuck were rolling there was growth. The biggest though IMO is Conor and I'm not even a Conor fanboy. National/International or whatever he has had a huge impact in so many ways. Manistream media his antics and controversies outside of the fighting. Even with his thing with Mayweather the UFC got a lot of rub off of that. Casuals and even less still lend an ear for when is the next Conor fight in UFC.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

I've met several people that said they started watching because of Conor. Tbf I didn't start watching regularly until 2013 myself.

 

[SuperAlly]

People still trying keep Conrad relevant in 2024?

 

[KO Shotz]

On that list it would definetly be Conor, Rousey, & the Bonnar/Griffin fight. Conor literally changed the game to the entertainment business, Rousey brought in WMMA, & the Bonnar/Griffin fight put the world on notice about the UFC.

Honorable mentions are definitely the Chuck & Tito rivalry, GSP, & Anderson Silva. I would include Brock with Conor, GSP & Anderson on making a huge impact in bringing fans to the UFC, but Brock mostly had haters.

 

[humdizzle]

Tsarukyan made a big impact on a fan

 

[filthybliss]

Everyone on that list contributed but b & d had the biggest impact imo what say you

Conor, hate or love him, it is the truth. I dunno why the Diaz bros are there instead of Tito.....Nate Diaz was a Chito type star before fighting Conor.

 

[Dr. Rose]

No list is complete without Tito Ortiz, the first UFC star and Badboy. Him, and his rivalry with Chuck Liddell, was when UFC really started to get noticed again, in its early years.

Should included Kenny Shamrock too.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Obviously Conor was by far the biggest draw. But I think the biggest jump in popularity and profile came from Brock and TUF. Those were the things that helped kickstart it into a mainstream business long before Conor was on the scene.