Conor McGregor’s anticipated return to the UFC remains unknown.
However, it’s become painfully obvious that ‘The Notorious’ would only need to come back for the sheer love of the fight game. He can often be seen promoting his booming Proper Twelve Irish Whiskey business online. He’s done that more than any upcoming fight he may have in the works. If you say you need proof, well, Forbes has just that.
The prominent business publication ranked McGregor at #65 on their list of 2019’s 100 highest-paid celebrities. Despite the fact he has not fought this year, McGregor has reportedly raked in $47 million for the terms of their rankings.
UFC 229’s Massive Windfall
They cited his UFC 229 match with Khabib Nurmagomedov as making the Irishman a reported $30 million due to its record-breaking pay-per-view (PPV) success. He also has a recently renewed sponsorship deal with Reebok that pays him a reported $5 million per year as well. That would add up to $35 million alone, yet there’s the matter of his Proper Twelve sales. The spirit has sold 200,000 cases since its release last fall.
McGregor had previously been named to Forbes’ list of the 100 highest-paid athletes. The list he’s now made is a much more expansive one, however, in that in encompasses all celebrities overall. By comparison, pop star Taylor Swift topped the list. She made a total of $185 million the past year according to Forbes.
The former UFC two-division champ has been linked to a fight with Donald Cerrone earlier this year, only to see it fall apart. His coach John Kavanagh has repeatedly stated his belief that McGregor will return this year. Time could be running out to get that booked. McGregor seems dead-set on facing the winner of UFC 242’s Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier title unification bout in Abu Dhabi.
We’ll see if that actually happens, but either way, McGregor is by far MMA’s biggest earner. And it’s not even close.
