1. WME-IMG Need to Repay Their Lenders
The new owners of the UFC are an entertainment management company. As such they know that stars are what make money, and Conor McGregor is the biggest star the UFC has ever had.
After purchasing the company for $4 billion, they need to show their lenders and partners that buying the company wasn’t a huge mistake. For that to happen they need Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar and all the top-drawing fighters they have to come up big these next couple of years. They might be in for a rude awakening these final two months of 2016.
While Conor losing at UFC 196 actually translated into more money at UFC 202, it is hard to image a second loss in 2016 doing the same.
