10 Biggest Gates in US Combat Sports History [Ranked]

Combat sports is on fire right now and the UFC as well as boxing are arguably in their most successful financial periods of all time.

Turki Alalshikh’s fresh involvement in the sport of boxing has catapulted the sport back to the heights it used to be at after falling behind for many years due to different promoters and fighters pricing themselves out of having the best fight the very best. In his short time in boxing so far, Alalshikh has made some of the biggest fights of all time such as Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight titles and a huge all-British heavyweight clash between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, which took place at a packed out Wembley Stadium.

Boxing’s recent financial success is being followed by the UFC. Despite their biggest star, Conor McGregor, being absent from competition for the last three years, the promotion is absolutely thriving without him and is producing huge stars left, right, and centre, who have carried the sport forward. This has resulted in five out of the top 10 UFC gates of all time coming in 2024.

With the UFC and boxing both in insanely successful financial periods, now is a good time to take a look back at some of the biggest fights and events of all time. Including the recent fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson and the dream fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, GIVEMESPORT will take you through the top 10 largest US combat sports gates in history.

10 Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson

$18.1 million (2024)

Despite the huge backlash around the fight being made due to the massive age discrepancy, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson proved to be a huge success and was watched by a staggering 108 million live viewers, according to Netflix. The fight took place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and it was packed to the brim with 72,300 fans in attendance. Despite a fiery fight week build-up, the fight itself was incredibly disappointing as it was basically held at the pace of an exhibition bout, leading to many fans in the arena voicing their frustrations with loud boos. Despite the negative reaction the bout got, Paul, Tyson, and Netflix will no doubt be happy as the event generated a huge amount of money.

9 Floyd Mayweather vs Oscar De La Hoya

$19 million (2007)

For six years, Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya’s highly anticipated clash held the top spot in the list of largest US combat sports gates. The bout was held in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada and was one of the most talked about and hyped boxing fights of all time. When there is a very exciting and intriguing build towards a fight, the actual fighting typically underwhelms. However, Mayweather vs De La Hoya was a back-and-forth classic with ‘Money’ coming out the victor via split decision in what was one of the toughest tests of his sensational 50-0 professional boxing career.

8 Floyd Mayweather vs Canelo Alvarez

$20 million (2013)

The two names which are ever present in this list of the largest US gates in combat sports history are Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez, and their 2013 clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, currently occupies the number eight spot in this list. This bout was billed as almost a passing of the torch event as the Mexican, Canelo, was a 23-year-old young man who many people were predicting to be the future of boxing, took on the crisp veteran Mayweather. Despite many fans and analysts thinking Canelo could give Mayweather a run for his money, the American completely dominated the bout.

7 Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford

$21 million (2023)

Many people currently view Terence Crawford as the best boxer alive right now and his masterclass of a performance against Errol Spence Jr in 2023 is a huge factor for those people believing that. Leading into the fight, Crawford vs Spence Jr was looking like one of the most even and difficult fights to call in modern-day boxing history. However, ‘Bud’ showed Spence Jr levels, knocking him down three times in the fight, which led to the referee stepping in and saving ‘The Truth’ from taking potentially career-changing damage. Crawford was the first to defeat Spence Jr and the latter is still yet to return to the ring almost 18 months down the line, which is hardly a surprise given the amount of damage he took.

6 Noche UFC/UFC 306

$22 million (2024)

There is only one UFC event which currently sits inside the top 10 of the largest US combat sports gates of all time and surprisingly, it does not involve the promotion’s biggest-ever star, Conor McGregor. The UFC visited the incredible Las Vegas Sphere just over two months ago with an iconic event which was a love letter to Mexican combat sports. The event was headlined by a UFC bantamweight title fight between then reigning champion Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. However, the fights and fighters were not the stars of this show, it was The Sphere. UFC Noche is by far the most expensive event the UFC has ever put on production-wise, but that financial blow would have been softened due to the incredible $22 million gate it drew.

5 Gervonta Davis vs Ryan Garcia

$22.8 million (2023)

Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia’s 2023 clash is one of the most highly anticipated boxing matches in recent memory due to both men’s eccentric personalities, as well as being two of the most powerful, quick, and best young boxing prospects on the planet. At the time of the fight taking place, Davis and Garcia had a combined 46 career KOs between them and the finishing potential was one of the main draws to this fight for fans and a finish is what they got. In the seventh round, Davis landed a very sneaky body shot which crumbled ‘King Ryan,’ deeming him unable to continue. Following the fight, many fans on social media branded Garcia a quitter for choosing not to continue.

4 Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin II

$23.5 million (2018)

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin hold one of the best boxing trilogies of all time and the second fight between the two, which took place in 2018, takes the number four spot in the list of largest US combat sports gates of all time. What makes the high ranking of this fight even more impressive is that Canelo and Golovkin are not trash talkers and let their hands do the talking and that is exactly what they did. The Mexican and ‘Triple G’ went to war in a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a fight which was awarded Fight of the Year, according to Ring Magazine.

3 Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin I

$27.1 million (2017)

Canelo Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin once again features inside the top 10 of the largest gates in US combat sports history, and it is the first clash between the two which sits one place above their second fight. The bout, which took place just one year prior to their classic in 2018, generated a staggering $27.1 million in ticket sales. What made the first fight between Canelo and Golovkin the biggest of their trilogy was the people’s anticipation to see who truly was the best middleweight fighter alive. Unfortunately, fans who paid to witness the fight that night did not get a definitive answer to that question as the fight was judged a split draw. This ultimately set up their classic clash 364 days down the line.

2 Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor

$55.4 million (2017)

Crossover boxing fights are a very normal thing nowadays. However, they once were a rarity and the huge clash between Floyd Mayweather and MMA superstar, Conor McGregor, in 2017 paved the way for crossover fights. At the time of this fight being made, the Irishman was at the peak of his powers in the UFC and was fresh off making history at Madison Square Garden, becoming the first-ever two-division champion in the company’s history, while his opponent, Mayweather, had been retired for almost two years. The announcement of the fight broke the internet, as did their insane worldwide media tour where they went to London, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles to sell the fight to the world. The fight did not need selling as McGregor and Mayweather are two of the most eccentric characters in combat sports history and their personalities clashed perfectly. Despite some early success from ‘The Notorious,’ Mayweather showed the difference between a veteran boxer and an MMA fighter who was competing in his professional boxing debut. After wearing the Irishman out, ‘Money’ went on to finish McGregor in the 10th round via TKO.

1 Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao

$72.2 million (2015)

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao may hold the largest boxing gate record ever for many more years to come. The dream fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao did absolutely insane numbers and managed to generate a whopping $72.2 million in ticket sales, which leads the huge crossover fight between Mayweather and Conor McGregor by around $17 million. As of right now, it seems extremely unlikely that any combat sports fight will come anywhere close to generating those types of numbers. Despite fans dreaming of the possibility of Mayweather vs Pacquiao for many years, the fight itself was an incredible disappointment for a few different reasons. Some of the reasons why the fight was so disappointing were because of Pacquiao coming into the fight with a serious shoulder injury, Mayweather’s defensive style, the lack of action, as well as the insanely high expectations. Mayweather vs Pacquiao is probably the most underwhelming fight in boxing history. However, everyone involved in the fight would have left happy as they would have set themselves up for life that night.