Fans fear for Conor McGregor’s ‘star power’ after superstar’s TUF return averages measly 294K views

The report of the viewership of the TUF 31 has worried fans about the star power of Conor McGregor.and Michael Chandler

Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler on TUF 31 (Image Courtesy - Sports Illustrated)

The Ultimate Fighter season 31, featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, have released on various platforms. The fight fans can watch it with a subscription to ESPN+. Conor McGregor coached TUF in 2015 and dominated the ratings at that time. However, this time, the ratings fell short of the feat achieved in 2015. Fans have gone on Twitter worried about the decline of McGregor’s star power.

Season 31 averaged 294k viewers on ESPN. Though it has surpassed recent seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, it fell short of the 600k plus views attained by McGregor’s TUF run. However, most fans fail to understand that the 294k excludes all the views gained on the ESPN+ platform. Nevertheless, fans have gone frenzy on Twitter speaking about McGregor’s decline and questions surrounding his fighting career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRjNhKCzxEQ&pp=ygURdHVmIDMxIGhpZ2hsaWdodHM%3D

Conor McGregor has not fought in two years. During his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier, he broke his leg and had to stay sidelined for 2022. He came back to film The Ultimate Fighter at the beginning of 2023. He will fight Michael Chandler at the end of this year or the beginning of the next. However, he has yet to start the training camp for his upcoming bout.

FS Video

Numbers are in for TUF 31's debut episode 📺

📰 https://t.co/dEoYTZDPeJ pic.twitter.com/rxnpnaZMtM
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) June 6, 2023

On the other hand, Chandler has consistently worked hard for his upcoming bout with McGregor. He has actively trained with his teammates and coach Henry Hooft. Chandler has predicted that he will knockout McGregor in the second in their future bout. McGregor has returned to the USADA testing pool, and Dana White will book the fight after the Irishman gets the approval from USADA.

Fans react to the low ratings of The Ultimate Fighter featuring Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor

Michael Chandler Conor McGregor — Michael Chandler and Conor McGregor interacts on The Ultimate Fighter (Image Courtesy – Sports Illustrated)

Fight fans expected a huge viewership when TUF 31 featured the return of Conor McGregor. The first episode averaged nearly 300k, less than half of what McGregor attained during his 2015 run as a TUF coach. Fans went on Twitter to express concern regarding the Irishman’s decline in star power. Check out some of the fan reactions:

Seems like Conor is loosing his pull
— Zarak (@Zarakishere) June 6, 2023

Are guys watching cable and ESPN like they were 10 years ago? There is currently nothing on cable TV that would get me to tune in on time other than a sports event. I do plan to stream the show eventually tho
— Crisp Kratom (@Crispkratom) June 6, 2023

Keep in Mind that it’s US only, this series haven’t been released in Oceania Region.
— Just Facts Nothing Else (@RaulSharath) June 6, 2023

It cause it’s TUF, shit lost its appeal big time
— ErnieTastyFresh 🇳🇪🇳🇪🇳🇪🇳🇪 (@ErnieTastyFresh) June 6, 2023

The reality is no one cares about chandler. If Conor coached against someone with a better personality and with some heat it would have crazy numbers. No one wants to hear chandler complimenting Conor over and over again
— iAMinvisible (@funnyhunnids) June 6, 2023

Not for nothing, but at this point it's not anything exciting because we've seen it many times before. Without watching, I can safely assume they hurl insults at one another, get face to face, and then get held back while cursing at each other some more.

Just get to the fight
— Matt (@JerseySuave4) June 6, 2023

I'm not saying those are wrong and or the numbers should be lower or higher, by we should wait for weekly numbers instead of debut numbers. I watched the first episode a few days after and I bet others did as well.
— 8 Paths of Wokeness (@StereoTaticDoom) June 6, 2023

I'm not watching this series. If MacGregor and Chandler aren't even having the end of season fight, I'm not interested in seeing MacGregor putting on his show for 2 months.🤷
— Saving Myself For Anni-Frid Lyngstad (@JWG4AFL) June 6, 2023

That’s trash.

This will be the last season of TUF.

If Mcgregor can’t save the ratings no one can.

Time to pull the plug.
— Soul Logic (@SoulLogic33) June 7, 2023

Analysts have pointed out that December could be the best time for the Chandler vs McGregor bout. December will feature the last PPV of the year in Las Vegas, Nevada. What better way to treat the fans than to put on a highly anticipated McGregor bout at the fight capital of the world?