Conor McGregor beats Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and more as highest paid athlete over last year

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4 years ago

Conor McGregor shared this image on Instagram (Instagram)

Conor McGregor is the highest paid athlete for the year 2021

Just one fight in 2021, still, McGregor has topped a list consisting of some sporting behemoths. He was number 16 in the list of Forbes’ Highest-Paid Athletes for the Year 2020, and this time ‘The Notorious’ sits atop the helm.

(R-L) Conor McGregor throws a punch at Floyd Mayweather Jr. during their super welterweight boxing match on August 26, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

With a whopping $180 million earned during last year alone, McGregor is $50 and $60 million clear of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who stand number 2 and 3 in the list respectively.

‘The Irishman’ was largely missing from the UFC for the second half of 2020, and in 2021 January, he made his return, after announcing that he was retired in June 2020.

Although, he lost the match to Dustin Poirier via. knockout in only the second round, McGregor pocketed a stunning $22 million for the fight.

That was not where he made his pockets deep from. The biggest money-churner was the sale of his Irish Whiskey brand Proper No.12 to Proximo Spirits for a staggering $150 million. However he still is an integral part of the company.

Conor McGregor with partner Dee Devlin. (Instagram)

Hence, it is no wonder that the Irishman is miles ahead of Lionel Messi who comes in second. Plus, the combined earnings of the top 10 athletes stood at $1.05 billion, just marginally short of the record set in 2018 – $1.06 billion.

Other notable athletes in the list are Basketball star LeBron James, Paris St-Germain attacker Neymar, Tennis star Roger Federer and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.

You can call me Mystic Mac because I predict these things

Just a few days ago, McGregor took his time to answer fan questions on Twitter. Popular MMA page had asked McGregor in which position he would be in, in the next Forbes Highest Paid Athletes list.

McGregor replied without hesitation, “Number 1 of course.” And here he is, as he had predicted.

The sale of Proper No.12 would have surely given him the confidence to post, that he would be the number 1 in the world. Anyways, kudos to McGregor for becoming the first star from UFC to top the Forbes List Of Highest-Paid Athletes in the world.