UFC 194 pulls in second-highest live gate in UFC history in McGregor win
UFC 194 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas had more than 16,000 in attendance on Saturday night to see Conor McGregor KO Jose Aldo.
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UFC 194 drew the second-highest live gate in UFC history on Saturday night as Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds in the main event.
According to the UFC, the live gate at the fight was $10.1 million as 16,516 people filed into the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The $10.1 million is second only to UFC 129 in the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which brought in over $12 million from over 55,000 fans in attendance for George St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields -- Aldo was also on that card as well.
McGregor said after the fight that he would do "Mayweather numbers" in the future, noting that he's still just 27 and drawing massive crowds.
"I’m catching up to Mayweather-Pacquiao," said McGregor. "Those old m----- f------ers are 40…I’m bringing these big numbers at 27."
For a little perspective, May-Pac shattered the live gate record, bringing in over $72 million from the 16,219 people in attendance. While that number seems untouchable, if McGregor's popularity continues to rise he could certainly challenge the numbers Mayweather was doing in his non-Pacquiao fights.
Mayweather was the headliner in 5 of the 6 fights with the largest live gates in Nevada history -- Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield II is fourth on the list. Mayweather has had two fights in the $15 million range for live gate (both bouts against Marcos Maidana), one with $18.4 million (against Oscar De La Hoya) and his fight against Canelo Alvarez brought in over $20 million.
McGregor's last fight at the MGM Grand against Chad Mendes in July brought in $7.2 million in live gate. He'll need to continue trending up at a rapid rate to catch Mayweather's top numbers, but it's not out of the realm of possibility -- this fight's live gate topped that of Mayweather's last fight against Andre Berto this year.
Few fighters have the charisma and personality to carry a pay-per-view event quite like McGregor, combine that with his pension for knockouts and an already fiercely loyal Irish fanbase and you have a perfect storm for massive pay days for him and the UFC.
