"Used to happen" There is nothing stopping TV networks putting up the money to stage such fights on non ppv but they don't as the purses make it impossible. HBO used to broadcast boxing but guess what financially it become a problem so got out.
Utube & Google don't cost me a dime. I'm not so interested these days anyway. If you wanna pay $95 go for it I'm not
My point was that Paul started out the same way. The only difference between the two is that Paul actually won fights. I don´t think Punk would have headlined a PPV, if he won fights, as the UFC at the time did not have PPV headliners without a belt on the line. However, if he could have sold 300k+, me might have seen CM Punk vs someone who wasn´t ranked in the top 10...on PPV.