Given the massive financial success of Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson, one UFC alum claims only a couple of PPV stars, Conor McGregor or Brock Lesnar could ever intrigue Octagon fans in a similar way nowadays. For a long time, it has been debated whether MMA or more specifically the UFC can live up to the glitz and glamor of pugilism, however, Paul vs Tyson set the bar a little too high in Texas last year.
Featuring in a heavyweight headliner, Paul would prevail in a forgettable unanimous decision effort over the veteran. But despite criticism for the event, it proved a massive success at the gates, with reportedly 72,000 fans in attendance in Arlington. With the bout being offered as part of the standard Netflix subscription, reportedly, 60 million users also streamed the event.
Stacking upwards of $17 million in ticket prices for the event to boot, Paul and Tyson managed to escape with lofty bank accounts, in what’s been labeled the ‘Heist of the Century‘ to boot.
And with the news about Netflix acquiring streaming rights for UFC PPVs, veteran Ben Askren is offering a word to the wise. A deal with Netflix effectively throws away UFC’s PPV model, something Askren argues isn’t necessarily a bad prospect.
Sharing his thoughts on the current lie of the model, Askren argued the promotion has little to offer in pay-per-view attractions.
“It’s who can cause unique buys for the UFC,” Askren told Cormier during their weekly podcast.. “That isn’t going to happen otherwise To me. It’s Conor (McGregor) or you know Brock Lesnar, but he’s not fighting. He’s not fighting anymore. He’s almost 50 I think.“, he said.
Additionally with heavyweight Jon Jones still playing hardball on the title unification fight with Tom Aspinall, Askren has reservations about his ability to draw massive numbers. Initially targeted to meet this summer, the ex-welterweight contender believes even that heavyweight pairing won’t appeal to the mainstream outskirts.
“I think that they need to make this fight [between Jones and Aspinall],” Askren added. “I think Jon’s kind of steering into this. Jon — I feel like Jon likes to play into people going ‘He’s afraid of Tom Aspinall.‘”
Now, with the UFC deep into a contract year, it seems a return for McGregor is their only hope for a massive pay-per-view draw this annum at the very least.
McGregor and Lesnar serve as proven PPV draws
Out of action since 2021, McGregor’s last outing served as a success nonetheless. Dropping a defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, the Dubliner drew in a whopping 1.5 million pay-per-view buys. And that’s not even the biggest buy rate for a flagship card he’s featured on.
Back in 2018 at UFC 229, McGregor and his Russian arch-nemesis, Khabib Nurmagomedov stacked a jaw-dropping 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, in the most successful night in the organization’s buy rate record list.
And as pointed out by Askren, ex-heavyweight star, Lesnar also proved more than popular during his tenure. Co-headlining UFC 100, Lesnar has been credited for drawing a staggering 1.3 million buys for his victory against Frank Mir. Also featuring on that card were both Georges St-Pierre and the above-mentioned, Jones of note.
Outside of Lesnar and McGregor, the UFC offers very little in the way of pay-per-view mega-numbers. Notably, welterweight veterans, Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal drew 1.3 million for their first title fight in 2020 – but both are just as inactive in the octagon as McGregor and Lesnar.
