The return of Conor McGregor to the Octagon to main event the biggest UFC PPV in its history is the number 1 MMA biz story of this year. The event drew a reported 2.4 million PPV buys and was mired in controversy for its ugly ending with Khabib Nurmogomedov jumping the cage and going after […]
MMA Payout Year in Review: No. 2 – Jon Jones returns to the UFC with controversy
Jon Jones returned to the UFC on Saturday night at UFC 232 at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Forum in Inglewood, California. He had a masterful performance in decimating Alexander Gustafsson was marred as we know. Jones tested positive for Turinabol, the drug that caused his previous suspension. It showed up in […]
MMA Payout Year in Review: No. 3 – UFC signs media rights deal with ESPN
MMA Payout Year in Review: No. 4 – ONE making moves, signs media deal with Turner
ONE Championship made its presence known in the latter half of 2018 after it signed Eddie Alvarez, “traded” Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson, Sage Northcutt, hired Miesha Tate as an executive and signed a media rights deal with Turner. The Alvarez was the first big signing for One in October. The former UFC lightweight champion […]
MMA Payout Year in Review: No. 5 – PFL debuts
The Professional Fighters League began its first season this year and will end it on New Year’s Eve in New York. Although the PFL has re-emerged from WSOF with a novel “season” with winners having a chance at $1 million, it still is suffering from lack of viewership according to its ratings. The good news […]