UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been named the most marketable fighter in the world today. The undefeated Russian ranked #7 overall on Neilsen’s list of the 50 most marketable athletes – the details of which are explained below.
“The World’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes list is powered by Nielsen’s athlete marketability assessment methodology. Called the Influencer Selection and Measurement Framework, the methodology draws on vast amounts of social media data to generate an Athlete Influencer Score comprising four key data points: relevance, reach, return, and resonance.
“Designed to accurately monitor social campaign effectiveness, the framework incorporates a range of performance and sponsorship-related KPIs, such as social following, content engagement, fanbase growth over time, media value, and the performance of branded versus organic content. For this list, the Instagram accounts for over 6,000 athletes from 21 sports were tracked over the last 12 months.”
Top 10 Most Marketable Athletes
- Lionel Messi – Argentinian, 33, Soccer
- Cristiano Ronaldo – Portuguese, 35, Soccer
- LeBron James – American, 35, Basketball
- Virat Kohli – Indian, 31, Cricket
- Bianca Andreescu – Canadian, 20, Tennis
- Neymar Jr – Brazilian, 28, Soccer
- Khabib Nurmagomedov – Russian, 32, MMA
- Rohit Sharma – Indian, 33, Cricket
- Mohamed Salah – Egyptian, 28, Soccer
- Paulo Dybala – Argentinian, 26, Soccer
Nurmagomedov was not the only MMA fighter to make the list. Jorge Masvidal ranked in at #24 after enjoying an incredible 2019 during which he racked up wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz – earning the inaugural BMF title.
Top 5 Most Marketable Fighters
- Khabib Nurmagomedov – #7 overall
Ryan Garcia – #12 overall
Jorge Masvidal – #24 overall
Anthony Joshua – #31 overall
Tyson Fury – #32 overall
Do you agree with this list? Is Khabib Nurmagomedov the most marketable fighter in combat sport?