Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who didn’t even crack the Top 10 on last year’s list, is now Russia’s most successful athlete, clocking in at No. 1 with $11.5 million on the 2019 chart from Forbes.
CONGRATS @TeamKhabib for the cover of Forbes Russia for being the #1 most successful Russian athlete and joining the list of the 40 most successful show business and sports personalities under 40. pic.twitter.com/p4wZLPfgmT
— Dana White (@danawhite) July 25, 2019
No question the bulk of that success came from a very productive 2018. After capturing the vacant lightweight title in a five-round romp over Al Iaquinta, Nurmagomedov, 30, went on to score a successful title defense against Conor McGregor last October.
Which didn’t come without its fair share of drama.
“The Eagle” is unlikely to replicate that financial success for his next fight, a title unification bout against interim champion, Dustin Poirier. Their pay-per-view (PPV) headliner is scheduled for UFC 242 this September in Abu Dhabi (more on that here).
If Nurmagomedov (27-0) is successful, there’s an outside chance he could return for the promotion’s year-end show in December, perhaps against Tony Ferguson, which would easily put him back in the running for the Forbes honor in 2020.
Time will tell.