Despite his claim that he’s an “active motherfucker,” former UFC champion, Conor McGregor, competed just one in 2018, a submission loss to reigning 155-pound kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, in the UFC 229 main event last October.
That’s probably why “Notorious” coughed up his No. 4 spot on Forbes list of World’s Highest-Paid Athletes, landing at No. 21 with $47 million for 2019. $32 million of that haul came from actual fighting, while the remaining $15 million was accrued from sponsorship deals.
By comparison, boxing superstars Saul Alvarez and Anthony Joshua both placed higher for their exploits inside the ring. “Canelo” raked in $94 million to replace McGregor at No. 4, while “AJ” racked up $55 million, good enough to secure the No. 13 spot.
The 2020 list may yield similar results, as the injured McGregor is unlikely to make his Octagon return until later this year, if at all, and the promotion has a new pay-per-view (PPV) deal with ESPN that may impact his overall earnings.
Either way, he’s still rich enough to do this.