2020 saw the return of Conor McGregor to the Octagon as he made short work of Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. It was the first time he had been in the Octagon since October 2018. Yet, the less than a round in January 2020 was the only action we saw of McGregor.
His return garnered the highest PPV of 2020. Proof came in confirmation from Zuffa of his buy payouts and tweeted by McGregor.
Congrats to the @ufc on a well fought 2020! The only sporting company on the planet to come through the entire year! Incredible!
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) December 21, 2020
I am honoured to secure their highest PPV of the year with McGregor Vs Cerrone.
Congrats Donald, and also on his double submission win last night. #No1 pic.twitter.com/Xvh76Gki3U
The UFC report has McGregor’s PPV at 1.265M projected buys and a total collected reported buy rate of 1.353M. Although not officially confirmed, its estimated that this was the highest PPV buy rate of 2020.
Alas, a projected ‘season’ for McGregor did not come to fruition in 2020 due to the pandemic. McGregor had indicated that he wanted to fight on Fight Island but that fell through. He then provided text messages between himself and Dana White about the prospects of his next fight. This may have perturbed White who likely was waiting for fans to return to maximize the star power of McGregor.
In 2020, McGregor retired yet again but its clear that was short-lived. He then contacted Dustin Poirier about a potential rematch which Poirier accepted via social media. The UFC came on board and finally scheduled the fight for this month.
McGregor also intimated that he has sights set on fighting Manny Pacquiao sometime in 2021. This seems like it could happen after Pacquiao secured a management deal with the same firm that is managing McGregor.
What will 2021 hold for McGregor? The fight against a much better Poirier will be a huge test for what he does the rest of the year. If McGregor wins, he will likely lobby everyone for Khabib Nurmogomedov to come out of retirement and fight him. In the alternative, he could jump the line to fight for the 155 or 170 pound title. If McGregor loses, we may see him turn to boxing and a showdown against Pacquiao which would be an instant money generator.
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