In the latest boxing crossover event, Conor McGregor has a preliminary agreement to fight Logan Paul. The MMA superstar tweeted that he is delaying a return to UFC for a boxing exhibition against the social media star/pro wrestler in India, negotiating with the Ambani family, one of the wealthiest families in the world.
MMA fighters crossing into the boxing realm is far from unheard of, even for the sport’s biggest stars. McGregor himself did such a crossover in 2017 when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his only professional boxing match.
Media reports stated that McGregor, then UFC’s lightweight champ, took home $100 million for the fight, including a guaranteed minimum purse of $30 million on top of his portion of the PPV revenue. Mayweather, who won via 10th-round TKO, reportedly earned $280 million for what would become his final pro fight.
Contrast that massive payday with what the 36-year-old McGregor has earned in the octagon, and it’s understandable why he would be open to an event with the influencer.
In late 2023, a report from MMA website Bloody Elbow reviewed unsealed documents related to the antitrust lawsuit against UFC that revealed the paydays for some of the promotion’s biggest stars. Although names were not mentioned, the fight records and timeline provided enough clues for the website to determine who they were.
The documents showed that McGregor earned $6.8 million in his Nov. 2016 win over Eddie Alvarez, $5.6 million in a March 2016 loss to Nate Diaz, $5.5 million in his successful rematch against Diaz the following August, approximately $4.5 million in a win over Jose Aldo in December 2015, and $3.3 million (including a $2.11 million bonus) in his July 2015 win over Chad Mendes.
After his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229 in October 2018, the Nevada Athletic Commission disclosed to MMA Fighting that McGregor earned a purse of $3 million, while Nurmagomedov got a $2 million purse with no win bonus. The card drew 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, the record for a mixed martial arts event.
Media reports on fight purses are notoriously murky, but the lack of clarity isn’t helped by UFC, since it does not publicly disclose payout for their fighters. The promotion, which was merged with WWE to form TKO in 2023, has frequently been criticized for relatively low pay for its talent, especially by the fighters themselves.
McGregor headlined the five biggest UFC cards of all-time yet hasn’t fought for the promotion since breaking his leg in a rematch loss against Dustin Poirier on the UFC 261 card in July 2021. The Irishman had only fought four times between 2018 and 2021, with losses to Poirier (twice) and Nurmagomedov.
McGregor ranks 50th on Sportico’s 50 Highest-Paid Athletes of All-Time list at $465 million, which grows to $555 million when adjusted for inflation. Though he is one of eight combat sports figures on the table, he is the only MMA athlete.
McGregor announced his preliminary agreement for the Logan Paul fight three weeks after a Dublin jury found him liable for sexual assaulting a woman at a hotel in 2018. He was ordered to not only pay the plaintiff, Nikita Hand, €248,603 in damages (about $263,000) but was also ordered to pay the “bulk” of her legal fees. Hand’s counsel was estimated to cost €1 million ($1.6 million).
