Conor McGregor bagged the top spot in Forbes’ recently updated rankings of highest-paid athletes after making around $180 million over the last 12 months.
According to reports, his major earnings came from the recent sale of his majority stake in whiskey brand Proper No. Twelve to Proximo Spirits for $150 million. His earnings were highly boosted by commercial ventures. He fought only once in 2020, earning around $22 million over his victory Donald Cerrone in January.
According to the Forbes annual list of sport’s highest earners, McGregor was one of only four athletes to earn more than $100 million in 2020.
Though McGregor made most of his earnings outside the Octagon, he is still a prominent figure in UFC. He has featured in all of UFC’s top five drawing pay-per-views and seven of the top ten drawing UFC pay-per-views overall as well.
McGregor’s last fight against Dustin Poirier hit a whopping 1.6 million PPV buys worldwide with 1.2 billion on ESPN+ in the United States.
Before this, McGregor was placed in the 4th position in Forbes’ Top-10 list of highest-paid athletes back in 2018.
Other prominent earners
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi was second on the list with estimated earnings of $130 million followed by Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo with $120 million in earnings.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott came fourth on the list with $107.5 million. The majority of Prescott’s earnings came via a $66 million signing bonus agreed after he signed a $160 million contract extension with the iconic NFL franchise.
LeBron James came fifth with $ 96.5 million. About $65 million of James’ earnings came from endorsements and other off-the-court activities.
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