Biggest UFC Pay-per-View Numbers of 2020

Conor McGregor made his return to the Octagon in 2020 at UFC 246. The Irishman fought Donald Cerrone in what was his first appearance since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.

It was a triumphant return as McGregor knocked out his opponent within 40 seconds. This was his only appearance of 2020.

But that didn’t stop him from breaking records yet again. The UFC’s biggest cash-cow set the record for the highest-selling pay-per-view of 2020. UFC 246 made 1.35 million pay-per-view buys.

The first PPV of 2020 was followed by UFC 251 which finished a close second making 1.3 million buys.

The card was headlined by Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal for the welterweight title. This card also had two other title fights with Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski’s rematch for the featherweight strap, and Jose Aldo vs Petr Yan for the bantamweight gold. This was the first PPV at Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.

UFC 249, the first card after the coronavirus outbreak, came a distant third. It was headlined by Justin Gathje vs Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight belt. Also, Henry Cejudo defended his 135lbs belt against Dominick Cruz. Heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou was also on the card.

UFC 253, headlined by Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa for the middleweight belt, came 4th. UFC 254 finished 5th. Khabib Nurmagomedov defended the undisputed lightweight gold against Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi at the event.

Conor McGregor will look to break records again at UFC 257

Conor McGregor will make his Octagon return since UFC 246 in January 2021 at UFC 257. The former two-division king will face Dustin Poirier at a lightweight bout. “The Notorious” will be looking to set record-breaking numbers yet again upon his return.

Given the numbers UFC 246 made, despite the whole card having much lesser depth than the others in the list, it is expected that UFC 257 will make high revenue.

Can Conor McGregor re-write the record books yet again? Will he be triumphant at UFC 257?