The biggest star in the UFC.
Remember UFC 205? It happened in November last year and saw Conor McGregor defeat Eddie Alvarez to claim the UFC lightweight title and become the first man to hold two UFC belts simultaneously.
According to a study by Applied Analysis released on Monday, the UFC’s event in New York last November generated $37.4 million in economic activity.
UFC 205 took place in Madison Square Garden on November 5, and broke multiple records in the process. While McGregor was not the only fighter on the card, he was undoubtedly the main draw and the event would have been far smaller without him.
A live gate record for the arena was set, a UFC record of a 15,480 attendance for the weigh ins the day before the fight, and lets not even get started on the social media frenzy and pay-per-views that followed.
The event also created $18.3 million in salaries and wages for New York employees and it’s estimated 300 jobs were supported by the event.
“We said it from the very beginning, we knew New York was going to be huge,” UFC president Dana White said. “It was a dream come true for the athletes, for the fans, and for our company to host a UFC event in ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena.’
“The numbers don’t lie, a lot of people came out to support us and we’re going to keep doing this up and down the state.”
We reckon McGregor can take the lion’s share of the credit for the success of the event.
