When the UFC booked its first-ever event at The Sphere in Las Vegas, anticipation was sky-high amongst the fans for UFC 306 or ‘Riyadh Season Noche UFC’. The $2.3 billion venue promised a spectacle like no other, but one glaring question remained—why wasn’t Conor McGregor the one headlining the historic card? The first ever ‘Noche UFC’, in honor of Mexican Independence Day was held in 2023 and was headlined by a women’s flyweight championship bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.

This time, the main event of the night features a bantamweight title showdown between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. But that raises an important question, should the UFC and Dana White have put Conor McGregor on the card instead? Here’s a look at some of the reasons why ‘The Notorious’s presence could have elevated UFC 306 to staggering heights!

Conor McGregor’s star power justifying the ticket price

Dana White has proclaimed that UFC 306 is going to be a ‘one and done’ affair at The Sphere. Promising fans “the greatest live sporting event of all time”, the UFC boss pulled out all the stops for the card. In fact, when he was a guest on ‘Club Shay Shay’ with Shannon Sharpe’s podcast back in June, White had shared that, “I’m already $16 million into this thing. This will never be done again. “

But when the pre-sale tickets were launched in late July, the fans were left with their jaws on the floor as according to Ticketmaster, the prices ranged from around $3,000 to $12,000! But on August 29th, a post by Xcellent MMA revealed that the “cheapest tickets” have now been slashed down to $1000. A recent report by Forbes also went into further detail as they shared on September 6 that the UFC 306 ticket prices for floor seats now ranged from $4,407 to $9,507 while the 400 level seats now range from $1,767 to $757.

So, could Conor McGregor’s addition to the card have been the catalyst to drive ticket sales to the point where the UFC wouldn’t have had to re-adjust the pricing? It’s definitely a possibility. While UFC 306 is loaded with names like Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili, Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko, and Brian Ortega, none of them come close to the star power of ‘The Notorious’.

Fans have been waiting for the Irishman’s return since his appearance on TUF 31 with Michael Chandler. While his broken pinky toe did throw a wrench in the promotion’s plans for UFC 303, having him headline ‘The Sphere’ would have drawn a massive wave of attention to the event!

Comeback of ‘The Notorious’ gives a bigger advantage

When Michael Chandler was asked about a possible rescheduling of his fight against McGregor after UFC 303 fell through, he’d stated to MMA Junkie, “Dana has touted it as the biggest event in UFC history, and it may never be done (again), and if you want to do the numbers that they want to do, it seems as though this fight between myself and Conor would fit the bill.”

The UFC boss had mentioned in early August that the promotion was hoping that UFC 306 would bring in a live gate of around $25 to $27 million. However, in a recent report by Kevin Iole, the figures were adjusted as he indicated that the acquired gate now stood at an estimated $23 million, much higher than the expected $21 million. This is a company record but a significant drop indeed from the initial projections! But could Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler have been the difference maker? The Irishman’s canceled bout at UFC 303 raked in around $20 million in gate. Imagine what he could have done with Noche UFC.

https://twitter.com/KevinI/status/1833675465628037621

Currently, the top two highest-grossing live gates in UFC history belong to ‘The Notorious’. His fight at UFC 205 against Eddie Alvarez is the record with reported earnings of $17,700,000. While his UFC 229 clash against Khabib Nurmagomedov, also held in Las Vegas, comes in at a close second with a live gate of $17,188,895.

So, going by the numbers, it’s no surprise that the long-awaited return of the Irishman would have the potential to break his own records. After all, the UFC 306 event is going head-to-head against one of the biggest names in boxing, Canelo Alvarez on September 14!

McGregor is a stronger fighter to take on Canelo Alvarez’s star power

In 2023, when Dana White and the promotion held the first ever ‘Noche UFC’ event on September 16, they took over ‘Sin City’ and the ‘T-Mobile’ Arena. The result? Canelo Alvarez had to wait for two weeks before he could take on Jermell Charlo at the same venue on 30 September instead.  

This time around, however, the two titans of combat sports are going to be clashing with Alvarez vs Edgar Berlanga also taking place on September 14. While the UFC was under contract with MGM, they couldn’t have taken ‘The Sphere’ as a venue, but White recently shared, “That was our date last year, and then without even asking us, or talking to us, they gave the date away. I couldn’t do the Sphere because I’m under contract with MGM, but because they f—ed us, they let us do it.”

Now, Sean O’Malley is definitely a rising star in the UFC but would the fans want to see him take on Merab Dvalishvili instead of watching Canelo Alvarez in action? It’d be a hard sell indeed. But the UFC did have one name that would dwarf the boxing star, Conor McGregor.

There’s no denying Alvarez’s accomplishments in boxing and the appeal of his fights, but when it comes to ‘stardom’, McGregor is arguably on an entirely different level. In fact, during a recent DWCS (Dana White Contender Series) post-fight press conference, the UFC boss stated that “Conor McGregor took this sport to another level when he became not only the biggest star in the sport but one of the biggest star in ALL of sports. You had NFL and NBA and soccer players mimicking Conor McGregor during the games.”

As such, The Irishman, known for his electrifying performances and undeniable draw, could have ensured that UFC 306 broke records, made headlines, and even dominated a weekend already thick with competition. As the event draws closer, questions linger—what if ‘The Notorious’ had stepped into The Sphere? Would it have been the most talked-about event of the year? Let us know what you think in the comments below!