As usual, Conor McGregor made a lot of over-the-top statements at the UFC 205 press conference announcing his lightweight title shot against Eddie Alvarez at Madison Square Garden. But the one that raised the most eyebrows was his claim that 2016 would be a $40 million year for the Notorious one.
“I feel by the time 2016 closes out, I’ll be closing in on $40 million,” McGregor said. “This is a $40 million year for me.”
Earlier, he claimed he made $25 million off the Nate Diaz rematch at UFC 202 alone. Forbes, who makes it their business to track what every athlete is making for their annual Highest Paid Athletes feature, thought that sounded a bit out of whack. UFC fighters don’t typically make that kind of money. In fact, Conor McGregor was the first MMA fighter to ever make it onto their Top 100 list at number 85. According to them, he made $22 million in 2015 … $18 million in fight purses and $4 million in endorsements.
Conor McGregor's guarantee for UFC 202 was $3 million. Just said he came away with $25 million.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 27, 2016
That was off three fights in 2015. 2016 featured his win and loss to Nate Diaz (the two biggest pay-per-views in UFC history) and now the New York City debut. Estimates are tricky in this sport because in addition to the disclosed purse the UFC pays a fighter like McGregor, the main event headliners also tend to get a percentage of the pay-per-view money, usually between $1 and $5 per PPV above a certain point.
The UFC doesn’t like releasing numbers, so we often have to go by estimates provided by cable industry insiders. According to them, UFC 196 and UFC 202 sold 1.6 million PPVs each … and those numbers don’t factor in sales through the UFC’s website, which must bump the numbers up even higher. But even being conservative and using the 1.6 million and $5 a PPV number (McGregor could conceivably command up to $10), he’d be clearing $10 million per event right now. If UFC 205 in New York does as well for Conor as the Diaz fights, his purses could bring him over $30 million with endorsements carrying him past the $40 million line.
Maybe not $25 mil per fight, but it’s certainly a good time to be Conor McGregor.