Much is made in modern times of the importance to a combat sports athlete of remaining unbeaten.The rhetoric would seemingly be that once a fighter suffers a loss, then his aura of invincibility disappears with it - making it harder for them to sell pay-per-view events and tickets to live fights.However, Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone completely turned this notion on its head this past weekend.Conor McGregor (21-4) and Donald Cerrone (36-13-1) have lost a combined 17 times in their MMA careers and yet tickets for their bout at UFC 246 have sold out in just one day - generating a gate of in excess of $10 million.Per fightmag.com.au, all tickets (which ranged in price between $350 and $1,500) sold out on the first day they went on sale to the general public.

MMA Mania even reported that the tickets sold out in just three minutes.

The numbers are made even more remarkable by the fact that no title is at stake when the pair meet in the five-round welterweight main event.

Indeed, should McGregor emerge victorious, he is not even expected to remain in the 170-pound division - and would instead head back down to the lightweight division to once again challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the championship in that weight class.

The rapid pace at which fans have snapped up tickets to the fight, which takes place on January 18 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, has ensured that UFC 246 will be one of the most lucrative events in MMA history from a live gate standpoint.

Whilst the expected $10 million gross will fall well short of the $17,188,894 gate seen when McGregor last fought at UFC 229 against Nurmagomedov at the same venue in October 2018, the McGregor vs Cerrone fight appears set to become the second richest bout in UFC history.

The promotion has already confirmed that it will be raising its PPV price in North America for the event. In addition, the bout will also be screened at an additional cost in the UK and Ireland - with the fight being broadcast on BT Sport Box Office rather than the standard BT Sport platform.

It is now clear that UFC 246 is set to be an undoubted commercial success. Fans will now be hopeful that the fight lives up to the hype - justifying both ticket and PPV prices.