The whiskey business has been quite lucrative for Conor
McGregor.
The former UFC two-division champion checked in at No. 1 on Forbes’
list of highest paid athletes for 2021. McGregor’s ranking was due
in large part to
selling a majority stake of Proper No. Twelve for $150
million.
According to
Forbes, McGregor earned a total of $180 million the past 12
months, and that includes $158 million outside of his fighting
career. The Irish superstar joins Tiger Woods and Roger Federer as
the only athletes to garner in excess of $70 million outside of
their sport while still actively competing.
While whiskey was the main source of McGregor’s rise to the top of
the list, he also secured endorsements with DraftKings, the video
game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes and Roots of Fight. McGregor
previously made the Forbes Top 10 in 2018 with $99 million in
earnings following his boxing match against Floyd
Mayweather.
McGregor, who ranked just ahead of soccer stars Lionel Messi ($130
million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($120 million), was the only combat
sports athlete to make the Top 10.
The “Notorious” one will return to action for a trilogy bout
against Dustin
Poirier at UFC 264 on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las
Vegas. He reportedly made $22 million for his second-round TKO loss
to Poirier at UFC 257 on Jan. 23.