Conor McGregor's Come a Long Way From Freaking Out Over $50,000 Fight Bonuses

Mustafa Gatollari - Author
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PUBLISHED Jan. 23 2021, 1:18 p.m. ET

UPDATED Jan. 23 2021, 4:06 p.m. ET

Conor McGregor
Source: Instagram

When it comes to the world of mixed martial arts, there are only a few fighters that have managed to become mainstream stars. While there are plenty of fighters who've transitioned their careers into new avenues (Randy Couture was in a few flicks, Gina Carano's crushing it in The Mandalorian, Brendan Schaub is a successful podcaster, and comedian Jorge Masvidal is making money moves outside the cage), Conor McGregor is easily the biggest MMA draw. But how much money did he make fighting?

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How much money did Conor McGregor make in his UFC career alone?

MMA fighters aren't exactly paid the heftiest of fight purses. Even if you're a dominant pugilist with a stellar win to loss ratio, you're not going to get much love from the promotion if you don't have a proven track record of being able to sell pay-per-views. Selling pay-per-views is something that Conor has done very, very well; five of UFC's top 10 selling PPVs were all headlined by the Irishman.

how much money did conor mcgregor make
Source: Instagram
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He burst onto the MMA scene early on with dominant performances and when he made his UFC debut, he looked like he was on a completely different level than his opponent, Ultimate Fighter alum Marcus Brimage. Not only did Conor talk a huge game going into his bout, he backed it up entirely, keeping Marcus at bay and landing at will with crisp, smooth boxing, solid footwork, and left hands that put Brimage in the twilight zone with each strike.

People were very excited about the prospect of a charismatic featherweight contender who looked like he was straight out of the movie Snatch. And the rest is history. Here's a breakdown of all the money he made fighting for the UFC alone:

  • UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs Latifi: April 6, 2013 – WIN (Marcus Brimage) – $76,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $60,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
  • UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Sonnen: Aug. 17, 2013 – WIN (Max Holloway) – $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus)
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  • UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao: July 19, 2014 – WIN (Diego Brandao) – $82,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)*
  • UFC 178: Sept. 27, 2014 – WIN (Dustin Poirier) – $200,000 ($75,000 to show, $75,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
  • UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver– Jan. 18, 2015 – WIN (Dennis Siver) – $220,000 ($85,000 to show, $85,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
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  • UFC 189: July 11, 2015 – WIN (Chad Mendes) – $580,000 ($500,000 to show, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $30,000 Reebok sponsorship)
  • UFC 194: Dec. 12, 2015 – WIN (Jose Aldo) – $590,000 ($500,000 to show, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $40,000 Reebok sponsorship)
  • UFC 196: March 5, 2016 – LOSS (Nate Diaz) – $1,090,000 ($1,000,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $40,000 Reebok sponsorship)
  • UFC 202: Aug. 20, 2016 – WIN (Nate Diaz) – $3,090,000 ($3,000,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $40,000 Reebok sponsorship)
  • UFC 205: Nov. 12, 2016 – WIN (Eddie Alvarez) – $3,090,000 ($3,000,000 to show, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $40,000 Reebok sponsorship)*
  • UFC 229: Sept. 6, 2018 – LOSS (Khabib Nurmagomedov) – $2,980,000 ($3,000,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay, $50,000 fine for post-fight brawl)
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Source: Instagram

How much did Conor McGregor make from his last fight against Donald Cerrone? Over $3 million.

  • UFC 246: Jan 18, 2020 – WIN (Donald Cerrone) – $3,060,000 ($3,000,000 to show, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $10,000 Fight Week incentive pay).

That brings his total UFC career earnings to a whopping $15,022,000. But that figure pales in comparison to his huge money fight against Floyd Mayweather, for which he reportedly earned $130 million from pay-per-view points and additional payouts from the bout.

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This also doesn't include the revenue from Conor's other business ventures, which includes his massively popular whiskey brand, Proper 12, his clothing line, August McGregor, and his workout/fitness regimen, McGregor Fast. There's also tons of sponsorship deals, ads, commercial appearances. etc.

Source: Instagram
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The fighter's total net worth is a figure that changes from outlet to outlet. The man says he's on track to be a billionaire by the time he's 35 years old, Yahoo places it at $235 million, while Sportskeeda says it's $120 million. (That figure's hard to believe considering Proper 12 has amassed over $1 billion in sales alone.)

How much of that ends up in Conor's pocket isn't known, but considering he's got a ton of liquid cash and is ostensibly smart enough to have wise people managing his money, it's probably much closer to a quarter-billion.

What will Conor McGregor's fight purse be against Dustin Poirier in their rematch?

And that number's only going to increase, Conor's going to make a reported $5 million in his fight against "The Diamond" on top of PPV points. Dustin's going to rake in $1 million, the biggest purse of his entire UFC career, with points as part of his contract as well. Not too shabby.

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