Forbes champ: Conor McGregor takes crown for highest paid athlete on Forbes’ list

Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion and current no. 6 ranked lightweight contender Conor McGregor added yet another victory to his resume. 

This victory came from outside of the octagon, as he topped the 2021 issue for Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes.

In total, McGregor made a whopping amount of $180 million within the last 12 months, according to Forbes. 

The ‘Notorious’ one made $22 million in his TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 in Jan. of this year. With his lightweight rematch with Poirier being his only fight within the last twelve months, the $22 million he made from that fight is just what he raked in from competition.

A majority of the earnings from his $180 million total came from McGregor’s recent majority stake sale of his whiskey company Proper No. 12 to Proximo Spirits, which netted him $150 million.

With endorsements from sports betting giant DraftKings, lifestyle brand Roots of Fight and video game “Dystopia: Contest of Heroes”, McGregor made $158 million outside of his career in mixed martial arts in the last year. 

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With this feat, McGregor became the third athlete along with golfer Tiger Woods and tennis star Roger Federer to earn more than $70 million outside of competition (in this case, outside of the octagon) in a calendar year while still competing in their respective sport.

While he continues to amass wins outside of the octagon, the competitive spirit in McGregor is still alive and well. 

After suffering the first TKO loss of his MMA career at UFC 257, McGregor looks to redeem himself in a trilogy bout against no. 1 ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier on July 10 in the main event of UFC 264.