Conor McGregor nabs #4 spot on Forbes list of highest-paid athletes

According to Forbes, Conor McGregor is the fourth highest-paid athlete in sports today. On the latest iteration of their annual highest-paid athletes list, the publication placed the Irish MMA star ahead of NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry, footballer Neymar, and Tennis player Roger Federer.

See the list’s top-10, alongside each athlete’s 2017 earnings, below:

1. Floyd Mayweather – $285 Million
2. Lionel Messi – $111 Million
3. Cristiano Ronaldo – $108 Million
4. Conor McGregor – $99 Million
5. Neymar – $90 Million
6. LeBron James – $85.5 Million
7. Roger Federer – $77.2 Million
8. Stephen Curry – $76.9 Million
9. Matt Ryan – $67.3 Million
10. Matthew Stafford – $59.5 Million

In calculating McGregor’s earnings, Forbes looked at his boxing superfight with Floyd Mayweather (his lone contest of 2017), which is said to have generated more than $550 million in revenue, as well as his partnerships with Burger King, Beats by Dre, Monster Energy, David August, BSN, Anheuser-Busch, HiSmile and Betsafe. They also took into account McGregor’s residency deal with the Wynn Las Vegas, which hosts all of his Las Vegas afterparties, as well as his digital properties, Conor McGregor FAST Program, MacMoji App, MacTalk App and The Mac Life.

The interesting thing about McGregor’s placement on this list, of course, is that he managed to make his 2017 fortune without actually competing in the UFC. His last UFC bout went down in August of 2016, when he defeated Eddie Alvarez to capture the UFC lightweight title. Because he still held the UFC featherweight title at the time, this made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions concurrently.

At present, it’s not known when McGregor will step into the cage again, though UFC President Dana White suggested we’ll have some clarity after the Irishman’s June 15 court date in New York City.

“That’s the fight to make,” White said of a Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor bout on the latest episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “But there’s no fight to make until we figure out what happens with Conor.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/5/2018.