There’s certainly no denying that both Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey are the two biggest stars in the UFC. In both of their rises to the top, they’ve broken records, and will likely continue to do so as their careers progress.
Of course, the goal is likely to have both McGregor and Rousey fight on the same card, which would likely shatter the UFC’s pay-per-view buys record. Most have predicted that the UFC 200 card in July of next year will feature both McGregor and Rousey defending their respective titles, that is, if both of them get past their next challengers.
While it can be argued that Conor McGregor is at the same level as Ronda Rousey in terms of star power, UFC president Dana White believes that there is no comparison between the two, and that Rousey is a much bigger star than not just McGregor, but anyone in UFC history .
When asked by Michael Bisping on Fox Sports 1 , “Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, who is the biggest star in the UFC?,” White responded without hesitation, and said it’s clearly Rousey.
“It’s Ronda Rousey, there’s no doubt about it. Ronda Rousey, they just announced today that she is the new Dalton. ‘Road House’ is going to be re-made and she is going to be the lead. She’s got books and all of these movies coming out and she continues to get bigger and bigger. And her pay-per-views, everything. There has never been a bigger star than Ronda Rousey.”
Saying that Ronda Rousey is the biggest star in the UFC today isn’t really a bold statement; however, saying that she’s the biggest star ever may be.
Former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar is still the biggest pay-per-view draw in UFC history, as his fight with Frank Mir at UFC 100 was the most successful pay-per-view in the history of the company .
Georges St. Pierre, who was also on the UFC 100 card in the co-main-event, is right behind Lesnar as one of the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draws.
So, while you can make the case that Rousey is the biggest star in UFC history, as of right now, the numbers don’t quite back that up. However, it’s very likely that a pay-per-view headlined by Rousey will break the UFC 100 record, and it’ll probably be the aforementioned UFC 200 that does it.
[Image via Matthew Stockman / Getty Images ]
