Whether it’s Conor McGregor stood next to his $2 million home in Las Vegas, or another star of the UFC stood next to his/her new Mercedes, one thing is for certain, successful UFC fighters earn A LOT of money.
In the early days of UFC, fighters would hop into the Octagon for pride and only a few dollars, now, they jump into the cage for millions.
Despite it being hard to determine exactly how much money combat athletes earn, Middleeasy.com have done their best to put the top 10 into a list, in terms of net worth.
10. Nate Diaz ($8 million)
This might surprise some UFC fans as Diaz was largely underpaid for most of his career, however, after taking a super-fight against face of UFC Conor McGregor, Diaz landed a serious paycheque.
This ultimately boosted his net worth through the roof when he submitted McGregor in a shock win, and from there on, he has headlined some massive cards and the money has been rolling in.
9. Dan Henderson ($8 million)
UFC veteran Dan Henderson has a net worth very similar to Diaz and this one shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given Henderson’s relative success in the sport.
He found success straight away, becoming the first ever person to hold two simultaneous titles in a major organisation, with the Pride Middleweight and Welterweight championships.
Hendo also finished his career in 2016 with a minor success, landing a fight for the title which earned him a lot of money - despite ultimately losing.
8. Jon Jones ($10 million)
Despite the numerous failed drug tests, Jon Jones is one of the best fighters to ever step in the Octagon, and you have to be surprised that he isn’t closer to the top spot.
Jones dominated the light-heavyweight division and was widely regarded as the pound-for-pound number one for many years.
He has more title wins than anyone in UFC history.
You have to put his spot on this list down to his inactivity and loss of sponsorships due to his actions outside the ring.
7. Ronda Rousey ($14 million)
The first, and last, woman fighter to feature on this list. Ronda Rousey was the face of Women’s UFC for years, this is before her shock losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
Rousey was raking the money in with UFC, but after these two losses, attention switched to other fighters in the division and the American switched to the WWE.
There, she was a part of the first WrestleMania event to be headlined by an all-female match. She continues to find success and earn money, all without fighting for real.
6. Alistair Overeem ($15.5 million)
This is the first major shock on the list.
Although never actually holding a UFC title, Overeem has been able to negotiate his way to making nearly $1 million per fight, largely due to his veteran status.
The Reem has faced the best of the best in the heavyweight division and has been for nearly a decade, and for that, he is largely respected among fans and experts alike.
Overeem actually climbed his way up the rankings and landed himself a title shot in 2016.
Although he came up short, he has seen enough success in the sport to be financially set for the rest of his life.
5. Anderson Silva ($18 million)
Widely regarded as one of the best fighters in UFC history, Silva won the UFC Middleweight Championship in 2006.
He still holds the longest title reign in UFC history, as he held his Middleweight belt from 2006 until 2013, where he was defeated via a second-round TKO at the hands of Chris Weidman.
Due to his success in the Octagon, he landed himself massive endorsement deals with Nike, Burger King, and other blue-chip brands.
Also, as he was regarded as one of the best ever, everyone wanted to watch him fight bringing in massive PPV numbers.
4. BJ Penn ($22 million)
Despite a record of 16-10, BJ Penn is still regarded as one of the best fighters the UFC have ever seen.
It sounds crazy, however, The Prodigy was one of only a few fighters to ever win titles in multiple weight divisions.
His biggest UFC pay-per-view event ever was at UFC 94, where he competed against Georges St-Pierre in a rematch for the welterweight title.
It also helped that Penn came from a wealthy family.
3. Brock Lesnar ($28 million)
Brock Lesnar has found success in WWE, NCAA Wrestling, and UFC, winning championships in all three sports.
Although making most of his money from the WWE, Lesnar has managed to rake in pay-per-view money from UFC 100 and 116 respectively.
In 2008 he defeated Randy Couture, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Lesnar is responsible for some of the top-selling events of all-time for the promotion.
2. George St. Pierre ($30 million)
George St. Pierre is the most recognisable Canadian fighter in the UFC and has headlined many events of colossal size.
GSP has a record of 26-2 in the promotion and is still the only fighter to ever retire as a UFC champion on a win streak. Of course, only to return in a new weight class and capture another belt.
The only two losses on St. Pierre’s record came to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.
Despite his losses to the two fighters respectively, he came back to beat both men, taking Hughes’ title, and recapturing the belt from Serra.
He was also hailed as the first person to be a professional ambassador for the sport, which earned him some serious money over the years.
1. Conor McGregor ($120 million)
If you didn’t know Conor McGregor was going to top this list, we're afraid you have never watched UFC.
McGregor is one of the best trash talkers in the business and has generated a lot of money, not only for himself, but for the UFC as a promotion.
McGregor announced his arrival into UFC back in 2013, exploding in popularity as he captured the interim featherweight title, before unifying that title, then moving to lightweight to become the UFC’s first ever double champ.
In addition, McGregor decided that being the most dominant force in the UFC wasn’t enough for him, so he decided to call out one of the greatest boxers of all time, undefeated 49-0 Floyd Mayweather.
It is reported McGregor earned six figures from that fight alone, despite losing via a 10th-round TKO.
This, combined with his popular whiskey brand Proper Twelve Irish Whisky, and the fact that he holds the records for all of the top selling PPV’s in the sport, makes the former champ an obvious choice for the richest fighter in the whole of the UFC.