He’s been the Ultimate Fighting Champion, holds the record for the fastest victory in the Octagon’s history, and now he’s one of the top five highest paid athletes in the world.
We all aspire to get paid for doing something we love to do, whether it be taking photos, making viral videos, or bracing yourself against an opponent to give and take punches repeatedly until one of you can’t go on any longer.
Well, with his new ranking as the 4th highest paid athlete in the world, it seems Conor McGregor just nailed the career goal of getting paid for doing what you love.
Forbes recently released list of the top paid athletes in the world reveals which of our favourite sports-stars are raking in the biggest bucks.
Last year McGregor placed at number 24 in the list, but this year he’s managed to climb a huge 20 places, as Forbes‘ 2018 list puts ‘The Notorious’ fourth in the list, above other renowned athletes like LeBron James, Rodger Federer, and Neymar.
Forbes are estimating that McGregor has made a staggering $99 million this year, quite the advance from last year’s estimated $34 million.
Most of McGregor’s earnings are believed to have been raised from his fight with Floyd Mayweather, which took place in August 2017.
Similarly to how Mayweather was victorious over McGregor in the ring, ‘Money’ is placed number one on Forbes‘ list, raking in around $285 million this year.
Forbes also report Mayweather is the highest ranked athlete this year who was not in the 2017 top 100.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo place second and third consecutively, with Messi making around $111 million, and Ronaldo $108 million. So just the same as you and me really.
With McGregor rising quickly through the ranks, it seems his jokey threat to Ronaldo might not be so far off, as the boxer told the footballer that he was coming for him on the Forbes list.
Don’t worry McGregor, you might not have caught Ronaldo yet, but you’re a whole lot closer than most of us.
Forbes explain their methods behind the list, stating:
Forbes‘ earnings figures include all prize money, salaries and bonuses earned between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018.
It seems McGregor has more than just money to show off, after some pictures from his son’s first birthday early last month revealed more of the boxer than his followers were expecting.
McGregor posed for photos at his son’s celebration while wearing shorts. Unfortunately for him, they were just a little too tight, and therefore revealing of McGregor’s… you know. Of course, people were more than happy to point this out.
Commenters had a field day, with one writing ‘Nice dick bro lol’, and another adding ‘Everyone come see Conor’s weiner’.
As much as the commenters may tease him, at the end of the day McGregor is earning $99 million a year, so he’s just winning at life all around really, isn’t he?
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.