The Irishman only fought once last year, a losing effort against Dustin Poirier, but he broke records to beat Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the highest paid athlete.
Get all the Boxing & MMA updates you need with our Mirror Fighting email update – sign up here
Conor McGregor admitted beating Cristiano Ronaldo was the icing on the cake to be named the highest-paid athlete of last year.
The Irishman broke records to get ahead of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to the top spot on the list, organized by Forbes magazine, less than five years after joking the Portuguese footballer that he would overtake him.
“I’m glad to have surpassed Ronaldo this year,” McGregor told Forbes. “I know a lot of these athletes on this list, you know they do so much with their sport, so much with their endorsements.
In 2016, he told Ronaldo in a meeting ahead of his rematch with Nate Diaz that he would beat him at the top of the list in a few years, at which the Juventus star laughed.
“You were number one on the Forbes list,” McGregor noted after discussing owning a private jet. “I was like number 35 or something. Thirty-eight I think I was
Ronaldo quickly responded by jokingly saying ‘I don’t think so’ to the arrogant fighter, who was only months away from becoming the two-weight world champion.
But last month it emerged that for the year between May 2020 and May 2021, McGregor was actually topped the prestigious list, which also includes NBA stars like LeBron James and NFL legend Tom Brady. .
McGregor earned £ 128million between May 1, 2020 and the same date in 2021, beating Messi and Ronaldo by £ 35million and £ 43million respectively.
He did this primarily by selling his brand of Proper 12 whiskey for £ 106million to Proximo Spirits, as well as recouping £ 15.5million from his sporting activities, which were limited by the pandemic to just one. fight with Dustin Poirier.
This is only the third time that an athlete has earned over £ 49.5million from his sport while actively competing, with tennis star Roger Federer and golf icon Tiger Woods the other two to exceed this limit.
McGregor added product recommendations to his summary to mark his huge revenue year. He has been involved in campaigns with DraftKings, the video game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes and the lifestyle brand Roots of Fight.
He also participates in UFC equipment sponsorship with Venum and is generously paid to wear the Monster Energy logo on his shorts.
He lost to Poirier in the only fight he had, but will have a chance to redeem himself on July 10 in Las Vegas when they have their trilogy at UFC 264 in front of a large crowd at T-Mobile Arena.
The pair shared victories in their previous two encounters, with McGregor winning the first in 2014 at UFC 179, before Poirier recouped his victory in Abu Dhabi this year.
–
