Nearly eight years ago we told you Conor McGregor was money … we just had no idea how much.
The former whiskey mogul is now among the 50 highest-paid athletes of all time, according to a new list from Sportico, raking in roughly $555 million in inflation-adjusted earnings in the years following his Octagon debut at UFC on Fuel TV 9 more than a decade ago.
That may explain all those “Notorious” lawsuits.
McGregor placed 50th behind NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, tied for 48th with $560 million apiece. The only combat sports athlete to crack the Top 10 is retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who generated more than $1.48 billion across his career.
Assuming he cashed all those crumpled checks.
“For so long, in my mid-to-late 20s when I started to acquire wealth and acquire money, I was fascinated with materialistic things, I would buy myself cars, watches,” McGregor told Tony Robbins. “I switched off of that. I realized I was spending things on material items and not things on myself, on my being, on my fitness, on my health. [LeBron James] spent $1.5 million a year annually on himself — physical therapists, masseuse, nutritionists, trainers, all of that. I spent $0.”
He did, however, get a shiny new super yacht.
McGregor, 35, could add to his total if and when he returns to UFC, where former “Ultimate Fighter” coach Michael Chandler patiently awaits. “Notorious” remains the promotion’s top pay-per-view (PPV) draw but has remained inactive in the years following his UFC 264 leg break in Las Vegas.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
