Conor McGregor lands on Forbes highest-paid celebrity list

Forbes has released their 2019 highest-paid celebrity list (money earned from 2018) and there is only one MMA fighter on the list and that is Conor McGregor.

The Irishman came in at 65 out of the 100 and earned an estimated $47 million. Forbes lists how he got that money which includes a $30 million payout from his UFC 229 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, after his base salary and pay-per-view bonuses. He also collected $5 million from Reebok and his whiskey company, Proper Twelve sold over 200,000 cases. He was also the 21st highest paid athlete for the year according to Forbes, even after fighting just once, and it is the fourth-straight year he is on that athlete-centric list.

Conor McGregor finished ahead of Chris Evans (Captain America), Jennifer Lopez, and Bryce Harper among others. While Taylor Swift made the most money making an incredible $185 million. The highest paid athlete was Lionel Messi who cashed in at $127 million while Canelo Alvarez at $94 million was the highest-paid combat sports athlete.

The 30-year-old last fought back at UFC 229 where he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the fourth round. Before that, he had the famous boxing match against Floyd Mayweather in the summer of 2017 after becoming the UFC’s first ever champ-champ.

Since his last fight, the rumors of when McGregor will fight again have been up in the air. Many, including Joe Rogan, thought he was going to fight Donald Cerrone. The UFC commentator even said it was a done deal. But, there are reports that the Irishman has been holding out for a rematch against Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title. Whether or not he gets that is to be seen.

Even without fighting, Conor McGregor is still successful outside of the cage with Proper Twelve and all his sponsorships.

Are you surprised to see Conor McGregor’s name in the highest-paid celebrity list? Sound off in the comment section, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/10/2019.