Conor McGregor may be entering his UFC 264 trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier coming off of a loss inside the octagon, but he’ll do so as the highest-paid athlete in the world.
Forbes Magazine released their list of the top-10 highest paid athletes in 2021 with McGregor topping the list outright for the first time.
According to Forbes, the former two-division champion earned a total of $180 million over this past year, most of which coming from selling his majority stake of Proper No. 12 for $150 million. McGregor made a total of $158 million outside of his fighting career—which includes his endorsement portfolio featuring DraftKings and Roots of Fight—joining Tiger Woods and Roger Federer as the only athletes to clear $70 million out of their respective sports while still actively competing.
McGregor also reportedly made $22 million in his second-round TKO loss to Poirier at January’s UFC 257 event in Abu Dhabi. “The Notorious” will get his chance at settling the score when he meets the former interim lightweight champion July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which reportedly sold out in minutes.
The Irish superstar is the only combat sports athlete to make the list, which also includes Lionel Messi ($130 million), Cristiano Ronaldo ($120 million), LeBron James ($96.5 million), Tom Brady ($76 million) and Kevin Durant ($75 million).
