The fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 has become the second-highest-selling PPV event in the company's history.

The Irishman went on to lose the fight after injuring his leg while stepping away from a punch in the first round. Due to the severity of the injury, McGregor was unable to continue, which saw Poirier win the bout via doctor's stoppage.

Despite it not ending the way everyone would've liked, it was still a major success for UFC and it was once again more proof that the company desperately needs Conor McGregor to remain an active fighter.

The fight generated 1.8 million buys on PPV, thus making it the second-highest-selling PPV event in UFC history.

UFC Needs Conor McGregor

McGregor has featured in eight out of the 10 highest-selling PPV events in UFC history, with his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 unsurprisingly being on top with 2.4 million buys.

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Tied in third position, behind the bout with Khabib and the trilogy affair with Poirier, are McGregor's second fights against Poirier and Nate Diaz at UFC 257 and 202 respectively. Both generated 1.6 million buys.

McGregor's last victory, which came against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 last year, generated 1,353,429 buys and is in fifth position followed by his first fight against Diaz at UFC 196 in 2016 with 1,317,000 buys.

The Irishman's final two fights in the top 10 are his ones against Eddie Alvarez and Jose Aldo at UFC 205 and 194 respectively. The former generated 1.3 million buys while the latter 1.2 million.

This just goes to show the extent of McGregor's popularity and how important he is to Dana White and the UFC.

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Even Khabib's only appearance in the top 10 was when he fought the Irishman, so that tells you all you need to know.

Despite McGregor's lack of form over the past few years, he still manages to draw an audience and he still brings in the big bucks for UFC. Not just for the fight itself, but also all the pre-fight duties he has to fulfil. The press conferences always sell out, the weigh-ins always sell out. McGregor is money.

It's yet to be seen as to how long Notorious will be out due to his injury, but it will certainly take some time. While many, including McGregor's rival Khabib, have opined that his MMA career is over, the Irishman will be willing to return to the Octagon one day and will not allow his career to end in this manner.

UFC president White did say that a fourth fight between McGregor and Poirier could take place after the former recovers from his injury.