UFC PPVs featuring Conor McGregor had the highest buys in 2021. Despite not being at his best this year, with two losses in his resume and a long term on the sidelines because of an injury. Conor McGregor is still the hottest property in the UFC.

‘The Notorious fought twice this year, once at UFC 257 and next at UFC 264, both against Dustin Poirier. The two fighters went head-to-head for the second time after McGregor had won the first fight back at UFC 178. In the buildup to the fight, surprisingly for everyone, McGregor was calm and respectful towards his opponent, which he usually isn’t. McGregor lost that fight via TKO in the second round, and both men decided on running it back for a trilogy.

They met again just six months later, and the fans saw the old Conor. Trash talking, trying to get into his opponent’s head, which is what he’s known for. Unfortunately, he broke his leg during the fight, and Poirier got the win again over him. However, those two events, despite his losses, saw the biggest PPV buys.

UFC’s holding company, Endeavor, recently released its quarterly financial results. They stated they had the most successful nine months in their history. It is due to a lot of marquee events happening this year. However, only two stood out – UFC 257 and UFC 264. In fact, these were the only two events to cross a million buys.

The next highest to the events featuring McGregor was UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya, which sold 800,000 PPVs.

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Who will Conor McGregor face next?

Ever since his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier, ‘The Notorious’ is on the sidelines because of a broken tibia. He suffered the gruesome injury at the end of the first round. Since then, he has been on the road to recovery. He’s had surgery done and is training again and looks in great shape.

Everyone is waiting for his return. Whether people like him or not, he brings in views, and people want to watch him fight. After how his last fight ended, McGregor would want to fight Poirier, but that might not be possible immediately. However, a whole host of fighters want a piece of the former two-division UFC champion.

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Michael Chandler, the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, is already eyeing a fight with McGregor. After a grueling three-round war with Justin Gaethje, ‘Iron’ tweeted a photo of him and McGregor facing off, to which Conor even replied. He said, “I’m down at some stage for sure. Great fight the other night Mike, congrats!”

Then there is Max Holloway. ‘The Notorious’ and ‘Blessed’ have been having a go at each other for some time now, and a fight between the two can happen. Holloway is coming off a fight of the year contender against Yair Rodriguez and should be ready to fight by the middle of next year. Both men are popular, and a fight between them will catch a lot of eyeballs.

Due to his losing streak and being out of action, McGregor has slipped down the rankings. However, anybody would want a fight against a star like him. After seeing the PPV numbers, he brought this year would mean a big payday for the fighters and good money for the UFC.

It will be interesting to see how the promotion books him once he’s back.

What do you make of the PPV numbers? Who do you think will be the best matchup for Conor McGregor when he comes back? Let us know in the comments!

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