Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the Pay-per-View king of the UFC, but two legends had already reached an important milestone for years before he broke on stage.
There is a growing conversation about an absence of star names in the UFC. Although that can be the case nowadays, the UFC has certainly had its great draws in recent years.
The list of that list is McGregor, the largest star that the MMA sport has ever seen. The controversial Irishman broke a record after record when it comes to the pay-per-view model and global involvement of the UFC.
But not every record is in possession of 'The Notorious'. A remarkable award will always be one of a few old rivals who have written history on this day in 2010.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
RASHAD Evans and 'Rampage' Jackson became the first non-title UFC Main Event that reached a million PPV purchases
Exactly 15 years ago, on May 29, 2010, Rashad Evans and 'Rampage' Jackson UFC 114. The event took place in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The map only became the second in the UFC history with five former Tuf (The Ultimate Fighter) Champions – Evans, Michael Bisping, Diego Sanchez, Amir Sadollah and Efrain Escudero.
But that was not the only history that UFC 114 made.
The most important event between Evans and Jackson, two former light heavyweight champions that collided after they had coached each other on TUF 10, was a three-round, non-title fight.
However, the absence of a championship does not hind the performance of the PPV. In fact, UFC 114 became the very first PPV that was not linked by a title to reach a million purchases.
It was a strong example of poor blood sales in the fighting game, because 'Suga' and 'Rampage' were engaged in a bitter rivalry at the time.
During a media call for UFC 114, Dana White explained how serious the hostility between the two headliners was.
“This kind of fighting happens occasionally,” said White. 'Don't fool yourself, this is the fighting game. Sometimes the boys who fight each other, they just don't love each other. These guys not and it is what it is.
“There is that wwe -stuff when the boys are there try to lift it up and make it look like that, but these guys seriously do not like each other. It is no more real than this.
“These guys both coached Tuf, and not only do I think everyone wants this fight, but I know that these two want this fight really badly. The day they walked on the set, they don't love each other. … If this fight is over, they can still hate each other.”
Their respective vows to complete the fight did not flourish despite the poor blood, with Evans eventually received the scor cards from the jury after three rounds.
Many eyes looked up, with UFC 114 that yields 1,050,000 pay-per-view purchases, considerably higher than White's 850,000 prediction for the event.
Conor McGregor headed eight of the top 10 largest UFC PPVs sold
Evans and Jackson were perhaps the first to achieve the performance, but generating more than a million purchases without a title on the line has since become synonymous with McGregor.
The Irishman has reached the milestone five times, with McGregor's bipping feud with Nate Diaz, the second and third fights with Dustin Poirier and his comeback against Donald Cerrone who all achieve the performance.
If you add the heated Nurmagomedov vs McGregor rivement and the two title wins on Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez, 'The Notorious' records eight places on the top 10 UFC PPV Buy list.
PPVmain Eventbuysufc 229Nurmagomedov vs McGregor2.400,000Ufc 202diaz vs McGregor 21,600,000,000c 257poirier vs McGregor vsgor vs 264poirier McGregor VS CERGONGOR11.500,000UfCGCGCGORS McGregor1,320,000UFC 251USMAN VS MASVIDAL1.300UIFC 100LESNAR VS MIR 21,300,000UfC 205Alvarez vs McGregor1,300,000UfC 194aldo vs McGregor1,200,000,000
Whether or not McGregor will add to his list of PPV successes in the UFC can still be seen.
While a long -awaited confrontation with Michael Chandler was predicted to perform well in the summer of 2024, a toe injury led to the withdrawal of the Irishman, causing continuous doubts about his return.