DUBLIN: Irish mixed martial artist and former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, for the first time, crowned as the world’s highest-paid athlete according to Forbes 2020 list despite losing in his only mixed martial arts bout of the year.
McGregor had only fought once last year owing to the Covid pandemic and earned around $22 million from his victory over Donald Cerrone in January.
The 33-year-old businessman, in the second appearance in the Forbes list, has outclassed top names in the sports world including new Paris Saint-Germain member Lionel Messi, and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo who earned $130 and $120 million respectively.
$96.5 million of LeBron James and Roger Federer’s $90 million comes below the top footballers in the Forbes top paid list.
Interestingly, a big chunk of McGregor’s earnings came from outside his sport. Reports cited that the UFC fighter made $150 million from the sale of whiskey brand Proper 12 to Proximo Spirits, while $22 million was garnered from cage fighting.
McGregor, who is also planning to set the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to lap Ireland by powerboat, recently saw a boom to his fortune with a sale of his Whiskey brand. Reports cited that Proximo Spirits, an American spirits importer, acquiring a majority stake in his whiskey in a deal worth upwards of $600 million. McGregor is set to remain involved in the money-making business as the owner and the face of the brand.
Meanwhile, the MMA fighter recently hinted that it will be ‘hard to beat’ Lionel Messi as the top-paid sports star in the world after his £1m-a-week move to Paris Saint-Germain.
“Messi is on $75 million a year, flat. Not including endorsement on top. He’ll be hard to beat this year on the Forbes list without one more fight in the book. But that said don’t count me out. We are only 2 months into this new Forbes fiscal year and I already have his year’s wage boxed off hahaahahahaha”, he wrote on his official handle.
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Meanwhile, Conor, who faced a horrific leg break, just started walking on his own again as he revealed in a recent post on Saturday.
