UFC 158 PPV buys 'trending with Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva' according to Dana White

It looks like those Wolf Tickets really do sell.

The decision for UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre to take on Nick Diaz instead of number one contender Johny Hendricks came under fire, but it looks like everything has smiling in UFC headquarters after the numbers have started to come in.

Of course Diaz is a headline-grabber with his reputation, his outbursts and his complete unpredictability, but as many fans, media and especially promoters have learned over the years, grudge matches sell.

When asked about the potential pay-per-view (PPV) buys for this past Saturday night's (March 16, 2013) UFC 158 event following the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White provided a simple one-sentence answer which should explain everything that anyone needed to know:

"It's trending with Chael Sonnen-Anderson Silva."

In case you have a short memory, Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 2 was the biggest UFC pay-per-view seller in years according to Dave Meltzer, widely regarded as the industry's leading expert on such matters.

UFC is a private company and does not publicize the amount of exact buys, but according to Meltzer, UFC 148, led by the fantastic feud between Silva and Sonnen, cashed in approximately 925,000 on PPV.

If St. Pierre vs. Diaz did anywhere near that, it would be a tremendous success. UFC has not sold over a million PPV buys since UFC 116 back in 2010, but Georges St. Pierre has always been the fighter the promotion has been able to rely on.

"Rush's" last four events have sold approximately 700,000, 800,000, 800,000 and 770,000 against the likes of Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, Josh Koscheck and Dan Hardy respectively. If he is trending with Silva-Sonnen 2, it could be his biggest seller of all time (not including UFC 100 where he was the co-main event).

Do the dollar signs make it easier to swallow?