• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MMA Payout

The Business of Combat Sports

  • Home
  • MMA
    • UFC
    • Bellator
    • One
    • PFL
  • Boxing
  • Legal
  • Ratings
  • Payouts
  • Attendance
  • Gate

McGregor makes Forbes’ annual “World’s Highest-Paid Athletes”

June 12, 2016 by Jason Cruz 3 Comments

Forbes released its annual report on the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes from June 2015 to June 2016.  Conor McGregor is the first UFC fighter to make the top 100 list.

McGregor landed at number 85 on the list earning a total of $22 million.  His salary is reported at $q8 million while he made another $4 million in endorsements.

Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list with total pay of $88 million.  There was $56 million in salary and $32 million in endorsements.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. lost his top spot from the past couple years as with just one fight during the timeframe he earned $44 million for one night’s work this past September against Andre Berto.  Still, he was number 16 on the list.  Manny Pacquiao was number 63 as he earned $24 million for his May fight against Timothy Bradley, Jr.  Canelo Alvarez was 92nd with $21.5 million.  Canelo had 2 fights within the one year from June to June.

Payout Perspective:

McGregor had 3 fights from June 2015-June 2016 (Mendes, Aldo and Diaz).  This would average $6 million per fight.  The endorsement deals are interesting considering the UFC Outfitting Policy does not allow outside sponsors during fight week or event night.  McGregor has an individual Reebok deal and has worn a Monster patch during his fights.

Filed Under: financial, payouts, Reebok, UFC

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. E Tops says

    June 12, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    Soccer has really step up in the past few years. They make more money than basketball and baseball players to all the gold diggers out there.

    As for mma fighters and boxers. You will never make that type of money. Mayweather was once in a lifetime. Although $22 million is nothing to sneeze at.

    No wwe guys? Of course not, it’s trash.

    Reply
  2. Wil says

    June 13, 2016 at 12:47 am

    Tops E….relax. Mayweather wasnt once in a lifetime, thats a silly statement. Manny was always high on the list as well, thats two boxers that were atop the list. Tyson, Holyfield, DLH were all on the list at times as well. And Its almost a guarantee that both Klitschko and Fury will be on the list since their last fight split a 30m dollar purse, the next one should be at least 40m, especially since its in the UK. Come on now lets get it together.
    And as for Soccer, where have you been??? Thats been the worlds #1 sport for decades.

    Reply
  3. tops E says

    June 13, 2016 at 5:20 am

    Thats e tops,not me……boxing.is where the moneys at..
    .ufc cheapie promotion…hahaha…dw is hyping so hard for the sale….

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Featured

Senate makes mockery of Ali Act hearing

Wrestlemania 42 attendance dips from 2025

How will WWE’s big weekend turn out?

UFC 327 attendance, gate and bonuses

Plaintiffs seeking $270K from Dominance MMA

UFC Seattle attendance, gate and bonuses

Archives

MMA Payout Follow

MMAPayout

Senate makes mockery of Ali Act hearing #boxing #TKO #UFC #Zuffa #ZuffaBoxing https://mmapayout.com/2026/04/22/senate-makes-mockery-of-ali-act-hearing/

People who do martial arts will laugh and tell me it’s fake. But then I ask them why they do martial arts? 😉

Fightful Wrestling @Fightful

Fox Sports Host Rob Parker Doesn't Understand How Grown Men Are Into Wrestling https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/fox-sports-host-rob-parker-doesnt-understand-how-grown-men-are-into-wrestling

I saw Tamaso at SeaTac airport last Thursday

Roman Reigns SZN 💥 @reigns_era

Good god.

#AEWDynamite

Retweet on Twitter MMA Payout Retweeted

Per WWE,

#WrestleMania 42 became one of the highest-grossing events in company history, with record or near-record performances across gate, sponsorship, merchandise, WWE World, On Location VIP experiences and digital.

WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the

Retweet on Twitter MMA Payout Retweeted

I should point out that according to those at TKO that the ESPN/MVPW boxing deal is a revenue sharing agreement similar to the original AEW/Turner deal in 2019 and not a full paying media rights deal which Top Rank had and wasn't renewed.

Load More

Copyright © 2026 · MMA Payout: The Business of Combat Sports