There has been a great deal of debate and speculation around how much money Conor McGregor is actually earning in the UFC. McGregor himself has claimed that he made $50 million for his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov and upwards of $80 million for his fight against Donald Cerrone. McGregor himself shared that the Cerrone PPV (UFC 246) did 1,353,429 buys. At 64.99 for the PPV, that means that the UFC earned roughly 88 million in revenue for this card. To believe that McGregor was paid 91% of that revenue is highly unlikely.
Let’s take a look at a standard tiered PPV contract for a championship fighter in the UFC:
$1 per ticket for 200,000-400,000 PPV Buys
$2 per ticket for 400,000-600,000 PPV Buys
$2.50 per ticket for 600,000+ PPV Buys
Given that math, with a standard contract, Conor would have made $2,483,123 in PPV dollars on top of the $3 million disclosed base pay. This is a sizable amount of money but its unlikely that a megastar like Conor is agreeing to a standard PPV contract. It’s more likely that Conor is drawing 3-5x the standard contract. I will give Conor the benefit of the doubt and assume 5x as a multiplier. This means that he made $28.5 million vs Khabib and $15.5 million against Cerrone. I think these numbers are much more realistic and within the realm of possibility at least.
It’s been reported that Conor will earn $5 million in base pay for his fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. We estimate that this fight will deliver 2 million PPV buys given the hype around his return. At this rate and using our previous assumptions, Conor should earn in the neighborhood of $25.5 million.
It’s likely that Conor has a major deal with sponsors like Reebok which could make up some of the gaps between our estimates and the numbers he mentions in his interviews. Whatever Conor is making, it’s certainly a lot and will allow him to continue living his lavish lifestyle.
Conor McGregor Career Earnings including UFC 257 estimated values
| Fighter | Opponent | Date | Event | Result | Base Salary | Win Bonus | PPV Buys | PPV Payout (est) | Performance Bonus | Sponsorship | Total | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conor McGregor | Dustin Poirier | 7/10/2021 | UFC 264 | L | $5,000,000 | $0 | 1,800,000 | $18,000,000 | $11,000 | $23,011,000 | ||
| Conor Mcgregor | Dustin Poirier | 1/22/2021 | UFC 257 | L | $5,000,000 | $0 | 1,600,000 | $15,500,000 | $10,000 | $20,510,000 | PPV Estimated | |
| Conor Mcgregor | Donald Cerrone | 1/18/2020 | UFC 246 | W | $3,000,000 | $0 | 1,353,249 | $12,415,613 | $50,000 | $10,000 | $15,475,613 | PPV Reported by Conor McGregor Twitter |
| Conor Mcgregor | Khabib Nurmagomedov | 9/6/2018 | UFC 229 | L | $2,950,000 | $0 | 2,400,000 | $25,500,000 | $30,000 | $28,480,000 | Reebok Deal, Fined for Brawl deducted from base pay | |
| Conor Mcgregor | Eddie Alvarez | 11/12/2016 | UFC 205 | W | $4,372,374 | $0 | 1,300,000 | $2,350,000 | $50,000 | $40,000 | $6,812,374 | Total Payout Confirmed via released reports |
| Conor Mcgregor | Nate Diaz | 8/20/2016 | UFC 202 | W | $2,425,490 | $0 | 1,600,000 | $3,100,000 | $50,000 | $40,000 | $5,615,490 | Total Payout Confirmed via released reports |
| Conor Mcgregor | Nate Diaz | 3/5/2016 | UFC 196 | L | $3,093,815 | $0 | 1,317,000 | $2,392,500 | $50,000 | $40,000 | $5,576,315 | Total Payout Confirmed via released reports |
| Conor Mcgregor | Jose Aldo | 11/12/2015 | UFC 194 | W | $2,286,662 | 1,200,000 | $2,100,000 | $50,000 | $40,000 | $4,476,662 | Total Payout Confirmed via released reports | |
| Conor Mcgregor | Chad Mendes | 7/11/2015 | UFC 189 | W | $1,095,000 | $0 | 825,000 | $2,110,000 | $50,000 | $30,000 | $3,285,000 | Total Payout Confirmed via released reports |
| Conor Mcgregor | Denis Siver | 1/18/2015 | UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver | W | $85,000 | $85,000 | n/a | $0 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $270,000 | Estimated Sponsorship |
| Conor Mcgregor | Dustin Poirier | 9/27/2014 | UFC 178 | W | $75,000 | $75,000 | n/a | $0 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $250,000 | Estimated Sponsorship |
| Conor Mcgregor | Diego Brandao | 7/19/2014 | UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao | W | $16,000 | $16,000 | n/a | $0 | $50,000 | $30,000 | $112,000 | Estimated Sponsorship |
| Conor Mcgregor | Max Holloway | 8/17/2013 | UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen | W | $12,000 | $12,000 | n/a | $0 | $0 | $20,000 | $44,000 | Estimated Sponsorship |
| Conor Mcgregor | Marcus Brimage | 4/6/2013 | UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs Latifi | W | $8,000 | $8,000 | n/a | $0 | $60,000 | $10,000 | $86,000 | Estimated Sponsorship |
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