Fight Pass Stats Revealed, Conor McGregor, Jon Jones Biggest Draws

The guys over at UFC Fight Pass have released some key stats from the subscription based UFC platform, regarding viewership and content popularity.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports was the man lucky enough to open the book, here’s what he found: (Via Yahoo! Sports)

Top 10 most-watched fights:

1. Jon Jones-Alexander Gustafsson, Sept. 21, 2013, Toronto, UFC 165
2. Gilbert Melendez-Diego Sanchez, Oct. 19, 2013, Houston, UFC 166
3. Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman, July 6, 2013, Las Vegas, UFC 162
4. Georges St-Pierre-Johny Hendricks, Nov. 16, 2013, Las Vegas, UFC 167
5. Benson Henderson-Anthony Pettis II, Aug. 31, 2013, Milwaukee, Wisc., UFC 164
6. Conor McGregor-Max Holloway, Aug. 17, 2013, Boston, UFC FIght Night 26
7. Cain Velasquez-Junior dos Santos III, Oct. 19, 2013, Houston, UFC 166
8. Benson Henderson-Rustam Khabilov, June 7, 2014, Albuquerque, N.M., UFC Fight Night 42
9. Conor McGregor-Marcus Brimage, April 6, 2013, Stockholm, Sweden, UFC Sweden 2
10. Johny Hendricks-Carlos Condit, March 16, 2013, Montreal, UFC 158

The top 10, which White said he was not aware of until a reporter read him the list, did not surprise the UFC president. Only three of McGregor’s fights were on FightPass at the time of the counting since UFC 178 was not up because of a pay-per-view hold. Two of those three made the list.

“I’ve been telling everyone this, but maybe this will give me evidence to back up what I’ve been saying, and that is that Conor McGregor is a huge star,” White said. “People are interested in what he’s doing, they want to see him fight and they’re going to FightPass to check him out.”

McGregor is also the most searched fighter on FightPass.

Joining him on that list are many of the UFC’s elite names:

1. Conor McGregor
2. Jon Jones
3. Nick Diaz
4. Anderson Silva
5. T.J. Dillashaw
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Rory MacDonald
8. Ronda Rousey
9. Mark Hunt
10. Cain Velasquez

The biggest surprise on that list is not only that McGregor sits atop it, but that Rousey is as low as she is on the top 10 and that big names such as Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz aren’t a part of it.

“It’s funny how fast things have changed,” White said of the absence of many of the UFC’s biggest names from the most-searched list.

When it comes to non-UFC bouts, it’s no surprise that the names of Emelianenko and Diaz are littered throughout the top 10.

The full list of most-watched non-UFC fights is as follows:

1. Nick Diaz-Paul Daley, April 9, 2011, San Diego, Calif., Strikeforce
2. Benson Henderson-Anthony Pettis I, Dec. 16, 2010, Glendale, Ariz., WEC 53
3. Fedor Emelianenko-Mirko FIlipovic, Aug. 28, 2005, Saitama, Japan, PRIDE
4. Nick Diaz-Takanori Gomi, Feb. 24, 2007, Las Vegas, PRIDE
5. Nick Diaz-Frank Shamrock, April 11, 2009, San Jose, Calif., Strikeforce
6. Fedor Emelianenko-Mark Hunt, Dec. 31, 2006, Saitama, Japan, PRIDE
7. Fedor Emelianenko-Kevin Randleman, June 20, 2004, Saitama, Japan, PRIDE
8. Fedor Emelianenko-Mark Coleman I, April 25, 2004, Saitama, Japan, PRIDE
9. Urijah Faber-Jose Aldo, April 24, 2010, Sacramento, Calif., WEC 48
10. Fedor Emelianenko-Kazuyuki Fujita, June 8, 2003, Yokohama, Japan, PRIDE

The UFC has acquired fight footage from numerous promotions which it has made available via FightPass. One of its most recent acquisitions in that regard is the all-women’s Invicta promotion and it has clearly been a wise move.

All eight Invicta shows appear in the top 10 of the most-watched non-UFC events.

The full list of most-watched non-UFC cards is as follows:

1. Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs. Tamada, Sept. 6, 2014, Kansas City, Mo.
2. Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg, July 13, 2013, Kansas City, Mo.
3. Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith, Dec. 7, 2013, Kansas City, Mo.
4. Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson, April 5, 2013, Kansas City, Mo.
5. Invicta FC 1: Coenen vs. Ruyssen, April 28, 2012, Kansas City, Mo.
6. Stirkeforce: Diaz vs. Daley, April 9, 2011, San Diego, Calif.
7. Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg, Jan. 29, 2011, San Jose, Calif.
8. Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann, July 28, 2012, Kansas City, Mo.
9. Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt, Jan. 5, 2013, Kansas City, Mo.
10. Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama, Oct. 6, 2012, Kanas City, Mo.