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Conor McGregor Vs Dustin Poirier Is The Second Highest Selling UFC Pay-Per-View

Conor McGregor Vs Dustin Poirier Is The Second Highest Selling UFC Pay-Per-View

McGregor and Poirier attracted more fans than all other UFC pay-per-view shows, apart from the Irishman's meeting with Khabib.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier became the UFC's second best ever selling pay-per-view, leaving only McGregor's meeting with Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 ahead of it.

McGregor had been out of the octagon for just over a year when the Notorious returned on Saturday night at UFC 257.

Whenever the Irishman is in action he attracts a huge amount of attention and being out of action for so long was always going to make his fight with Poirier even more interesting.

So it proved with the Diamond making it 1-1 between the pair, avenging his loss in 2014, by handing McGregor his first ever stoppage defeat in the second round.

The fight had so much interest that, according to the Sports Business Journal, it had 1.6 million buys across the world, with 1.2 million buys on ESPN + alone.

That figure means that only the Notorious' fight with Khabib has bettered it when it comes to sales in the UFC, and without the vitriol of the number one card.

McGregor vs Poirier attracted loads of interest. Image: PA Images
McGregor vs Poirier attracted loads of interest. Image: PA Images

The two rivals did 2.4 million sales when they met for the UFC lightweight title, that Khabib won after McGregor was stripped of the title.

It all means that former featherweight and lightweight champ McGregor has the top five highest selling pay-per-view in the company's history, and seven of the top eight.

His fights with Khabib, Poirier, Cerrone and two with Diaz make up all the top spots, Kamaru Usman's defence of his middleweight title vs Jorge Masvidal last year takes the sixth spot.

In seventh is McGregor's fight with Eddie Alvarez, where he picked up his second UFC title, and the 13 second win over Jose Aldo, his first title win, is in eighth.

McGregor and Diaz had two classics in 2016. Image: PA Images
McGregor and Diaz had two classics in 2016. Image: PA Images

With McGregor being 1-1 with both Poirier and Diaz they both make sense for a future opponent for the Notorious, although the pair could face each other first.

Diaz, who has been out of action since losing his BMF title fight at the end of 2019 to Masvidal, called out the Diamond following his huge win over McGregor.

A second fight with Khabib looks more unlikely at this point, but would no doubt be the one to beat the current record, with Dana White pretty much ending the chances of the Russian returning.

Who should McGregor fight next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, Dustin Poirier, UFC News, UFC 257, UFC, MMA