If seeing is believing, then the MMA world can no longer refute the fact that Conor McGregor is a star.
According to MMAFighting.com, the viewership numbers from UFC Fight Night 59, which was headlined by McGregor and Dennis Siver, drew an average of 2,751,000 viewers. Those record-breaking numbers peaked at 3,162,000 when McGregor stepped into the cage for the main event.
The previous record was held by the UFC’s debut event on FOX Sports 1, which featured a light heavyweight bout between Chael Sonnen and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen averaged at 1,780,000 viewers and 2,270,000 for the main event.
McGregor’s fight-card numbers blew the previously held record out of the water, making UFC Fight Night 59 the most watched MMA event on cable since Kimbo Slice fought Houston Alexander at the TUF 10 Finale back in December 2009.
For a fighter who has a tendency to talk the talk, some would consider these numbers and McGregor’s slow, painful destruction of Siver as walking the walk.
There were plenty of things going against UFC Fight Night 59. The event took place on a Sunday, which is an unusual day for major MMA events. This past Sunday was even more unusual considering it was NFL Championship Sunday, which featured the last two professional football games before the Super Bowl.
Many were concerned that the event would get swallowed by football coverage, but the recently released numbers prove otherwise.
When speaking with MMAjunkie.com, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta compared McGregor to Muhammad Ali in regards to his fighting skills and ability to draw attention. This came just a few months after he raved about the Irish star’s drawing power during an appearance on FOX Sports Live, per MMAFighting.com:
[The] guy can literally drive numbers from an entire country. When Conor fights, the entire country of Ireland shuts down. We get like a 60 share of the TV market there. Over 11 percent of the tickets sold in Las Vegas [for UFC 178] were from Ireland. He moves the needle on Pay-Per-View. He headlined his first event in Ireland, did a $1.4 million gate.
Needless to say, the UFC has got to be feeling pretty optimistic about the pay-per-view numbers when McGregor steps into the Octagon against Jose Aldo for the UFC title.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag.
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