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UFC 202 PPV Buys Revealed, Dana White Says Ronda Rousey’s Return Will Be Bigger Than Conor McGregor And Nate Diaz

By Frank Yemi
Published on: 02:24 PST, Aug 26, 2016

UFC 202 delivered one of the best cards the sport has ever produced. Conor McGregor came out on top in a closely contested five-round war with Stockton’s Nate Diaz.

According to UFC president Dana White, Ronda Rousey’s highly anticipated return could be bigger than UFC 202.

UFC 202 PPV buys put the event as the third biggest in the UFC. Conor and Nate Diaz first fight at UFC 196 and UFC 100 are still the top PPV events for the company.

According to Forbes, this puts UFC 202 PPV numbers somewhere between 1.2 and 1.5 million buys based on previous estimates.

As a private company, the UFC does not release PPV numbers. However, metrics and data surrounding the event provide an accurate estimate on how events perform. UFC does sometimes tell the press how a UFC PPV card fared.

In an interview with Colin Cowherd’s The Herd, White gave us an update on all things Ronda Rousey.

When Colin asked Dana if a Ronda Rousey fight next month will do better than Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, White replied, “Yes,” and he continued. “I think that Ronda Rousey’s return will be the biggest pay-per-view we’ve ever done.”

White admitted that 15 years ago, he never would have believed women’s MMA would be technically and commercially as viable as men’s MMA.

So far in the UFC, women’s MMA has rivaled the men in both talent and excitement. Ronda Rousey is arguably the UFC’s biggest star. Conor McGregor has bigger PPV numbers, but Ronda could out do the Irish sensation in her return fight.

The UFC president also revealed that Ronda Rousey would not be fighting in the New York card due to an injury and minor surgeries.

Dana White revealed that he wants Conor McGregor to “move on” from his fight from Nate Diaz despite both fighters revealing their interest in a trilogy fight.

White also said it’s not that he doesn’t want the fight to happen, but Conor needs to defend his Featherweight championship or relinquish it before another fight with Diaz could be arranged.

Dana White also criticized UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, stating that the former Welterweight champion has lost the desire to compete:

“That’s why when people talk about ‘oh Georges St-Pierre’s coming back’. Georges St-Pierre doesn’t have that ‘I want to be a world champion’ attitude anymore. He doesn’t have that drive and that desire that he once had. And if you don’t have that, no, you shouldn’t fight.”

GSP has spoken about his interest in returning to the UFC, but he has not been given a fight yet. He is back in the USADA testing pool, which is required of fighters six months prior to their return to fighting.

UFC 202 was an exciting card overall. Anthony Johnson scored a brutal knockout over Glover Teixeira in 13 seconds, and Donald Cerrone put on a combination of kicks and punches that finished Rick Story in the second round.

Conor McGregor received a salary of $3 million while Nate Diaz got $2 million. They will also receive a percentage of the UFC 202 PPV buys, which could take their earnings over $10 million each.

Ronda Rousey is likely to fight whoever is champion when she returns. Since Ronda’s dominant reign in the Bantamweight division ended, no one has defended the belt, and UFC has crowned three new Bantamweight champions.

Amanda Nunes is the current champion, and her first defense of the title is yet to be announced. Ronda lost to Holly Holm last year, and Holm has lost her last two fights to Miesha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko, who outclassed the Albuquerque boxer in a decision victory.

Are you looking forward to Ronda Rousey’s return to the UFC? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images]

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