If you didn’t know, now you know — Khabib Nurmagomedov is a true star.
Nurmagomedov takes on Justin Gaethje in their lightweight title unification at UFC 254 on Saturday. It’s one of the most highly-anticipated fights in recent memory and the analytics are certainly showing that to be the case.
With UFC 254 trending off the charts according to White, the UFC head honcho believes it’s further indication that “The Eagle” is now a mega draw for the promotion. But beyond that, he’s now become one of the biggest stars in all of sports.
“The reality is this — apparently people in the business don’t know this — Khabib is one of the biggest stars in all of sports. Not just the UFC. He’s one of the biggest stars in sports,” White said at the UFC 254 pre-fight press conference. “Khabib’s videos have generated 222 million views. His content that features him — over 100 million views this year alone on Facebook. He’s broken records on Instagram, I could rattle off numbers all day.
“He’s the number one by far most played character in the video game by a long shot. And the numbers just go on and on, I could go on for days. But the kid’s broke a lot of records.
White: Matchup Makes This Fight So Big
In addition to Nurmagomedov being a star, another factor as to why UFC 254 is trending so well is the matchup according to White.
Many feel Gaethje has what it takes to defeat Nurmagomedov and that adds to the intrigue in what is a massive fight.
“And what makes this fight so big is that people believe this kid [Gaethje] has the style to beat him,” White added. “So you have all the ingredients for a massive fight. You have a big superstar and you’ve got a kid that’s coming off an incredible win over a highly respected fighter and many people believe that he has the style to do it.”
It will certainly be interesting to see the numbers following the event this weekend.
