Filed under: MMA Videos, UFCAn interesting look at the pay-per-view drawing power of various UFC stars:
(Via MMA Payout)
As I've mentioned before, the numbers show that the UFC doesn't need Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz to sell pay-per-views, which is good news for the long-term health of the company. The next generation of pay-per-view draws appears to consist, first and foremost, of Brock Lesnar, Forrest Griffin, Georges St. Pierre and Rampage Jackson.
But it's disappointing that Anderson Silva isn't on that list. Silva is the UFC's best fighter, but right now he isn't a huge pay-per-view draw. I hope the UFC is able to put Silva in the kinds of super-fights that would make him a bigger star, but right now there just aren't enough good opponents for him in the middleweight division.
Putting Silva in the Octagon with Liddell is probably the best way to bolster Silva's name recognition and drawing power, and such a fight would also serve as a symbolic changing of the guard, as a Silva victory would show that the UFC is moving from old school to new.
