Conor McGregor proved his star power once again and Nate Diaz helped to move the needle based on the estimated UFC 196 buy rates.
Appearing on ESPN's "Max & Marcellus" podcast on Thursday, UFC president Dana White placed the event at around 1.5 million PPV buys, which would make it the second most successful event behind UFC 100 in July 2009.
UFC 196 was headlined by a McGregor-Diaz main event and a title fight between women's bantamweights Holly Holm and Miesha Tate.
White brought up the number in response to those who question the UFC's ability to market new stars.
"People have been telling me, 'What are you going to do when Chuck Liddell retires?' then, 'What are you going to do when (Georges St-Pierre) is gone?' There are always great new fighters coming down the pipeline," said White, according to Karim Zidan of Bloody Elbow. "In this sport, we put the best against the best, or sometimes we do crazy stuff like on Saturday night, where Conor McGregor says, 'I want to fight Nate Diaz. I'll fight him at 170 (pounds).'
"These are the things that capture people's imaginations. That is why the thing does 1.5 million PPV buys."
A press release issued by the company on Friday was even more optimistic. According to MMAWeekly, UFC 196 is trending to be the biggest PPV ever. The release also noted several records related to preliminary viewership, UFC Fight Pass subscription, and social media activity.
