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Even though former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) double champ, Conor McGregor, has not won a combat sports contest in almost three years, “Notorious” has never stopped winning financially. Indeed, the No. 21-ranked “highest paid athlete in sports” — who is estimated to haul in $47 million in 2019 — was named the seventh-highest most valuable athlete on social media.
The report gauges who had the highest total interactions — likes, comments and shares on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter — on their social media accounts during the first six months of 2019. McGregor is the only non-soccer player among the top seven athletes, chief among Cristiano Ronaldo, the worldwide soccer sensation with a ridiculous 178 million Instagram followers (McGregor boasts 31.4 million).
Forbes.com breaks down the key to his social success:
“He often uses his social channels to promote his Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey brand, which sold more than 200,000 cases since its launch last year. This short clip announcing the launch of the brand in Australia had 4.4 million views.”
Not too long ago, UFC President Dana White told the combat sports universe that he expected McGregor to become a billionaire on the back of Proper No. 12 and it’s certainly off to a record-setting start (despite spotty reviews). Indeed, he no longer needs to actually compete inside the Octagon based on his ongoing commercial (and social) success.
But, that won’t stop White and Co. from frequently teasing the possibility.
According to the report, the Top 5-ranked combat sports athlete influencers include: McGregor (159.7 million), Khabib Nurmagomedov (111.1 million), Anthony Joshua (41.6 million), Floyd Mayweather (31.4 million) and Canelo Alvarez (26 million).