Conor McGregor will reportedly overtake Cristiano Ronaldo in Forbes‘ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes following his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
According to the MailOnline’s Will Griffee, McGregor is set to earn £77 million for fighting Mayweather despite his 10th-round TKO defeat, and the Irishman can stand to earn more through sponsorship deals or further fights before the year’s end.
Real Madrid star Ronaldo sits atop this year’s rich list with earnings of £71 million.
The Notorious infamously predicted he would overtake Ronaldo on the list when he met the forward last year, saying: “You were number one on the Forbes list, I was like number 35 or something. I’ll get up. Maybe next year I’ll get you.”
According to Griffee, Ronaldo is said to have replied with “I don’t think so,” but it appears McGregor may well have been right thanks to Saturday’s superfight.
His opponent, Mayweather, looks set to eclipse them both at the top, though, as he could reportedly earn as much as £233 million after winning the bout to extend his record to 50-0.
Money retired once again after the fight, while McGregor pledged he is “still gonna raise the MMA cheques” when he returns to UFC, per Fox Sports: UFC:
Forbes‘ Brian Mazique believes McGregor’s career earnings would be even higher had he followed a career in boxing from the start:
That may well be the case, but having become the face of the UFC, the 29-year-old is nevertheless riding the crest of a wave, and his high-profile crossover has evidently been extremely lucrative.
According to Forbes‘ Matt Connolly, McGregor’s three headline UFC events in 2016 brought in an estimated four million pay-per-view buys, along with a combined $33.5 million in ticket sales.
With McGregor’s draw seemingly climbing ever higher, further fights in 2017 and beyond may even see those numbers increase.
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