The world of MMA hit new heights in 2021.
Dana White's UFC, the big stack bully in the sport organised some of its biggest fights and crowned brand new champions in the process.
From the drama of Conor McGregor's broken leg to Kamaru Usman's unyielding and merciless domination of the welterweight division, UFC has been simply electric.
The organisation has come under a lot of fire fr the way in which it pays its fighters, especially considering just how much the fighters are risking when they step into the Octagon.
However, even amid that controversy, the sport has made a lot of people very wealthy while catapulting their names into the public sphere.
Now, as we step into 2022, Wealthy Gorilla has compiled a list of the 20 richest figures in the MMA world.
One look at the list will bring up a lot of questions, especially with regards to how woman are paid as Ronda Rousey, who has been retired for several years, is the only female on the list.
20. Michael Bisping: $9m
19. Jose Aldo: $9m
18. Junior dos Santos: $10m
17. Jon Jones: $10m
16. Chael Sonnen: $10m
15. Frank Mir: $10m
14. Ronda Rousey: $12m
13. Quinton Jackson: $12m
12. Chuck Liddell: $14m
11. Tito Ortiz: $14m
10. Randy Couture: $17m
9. Wanderlei Silva: $18m
8. Fedor Emelianenko: $18m
7. Anderson Silva: $18m
6. BJ Penn: $22m
5. Brock Lesnar: $28m
Brock Lesnar made a huge impact in the Octagon when he swapped WWE for UFC.
The big-hitting heavyweight was a huge draw card and was remunerated very well for his few appearances.
As one of the biggest stars in WWE as well, Lesnar continues to make very good money out of combat sports.
4. Georges St-Pierre: $30m
Widely considered to be the GOAT of the UFC, Georges St-Pierre is one of the fighters to have done incredibly well out of his unrivalled career.
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov: $30m
One of St-Pierre's rivals in chief for the position of UFC GOAT, Khabib Nurmagomedov retired as undefeated titan.
His bitter battle with Conor McGregor is the organisations highest grossing fight ever and now he runs his own fighting organisation in Russia.
2. Rorion Gracie: $50m
Gracie has made his fortune from several different angles.
He was one of the co-founders of the UFC in the early nineties before procuring government contracts with the US Military to develop a an objective hand-to-hand combat course based on the most effective techniques of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
1. Conor McGregor: $110m
There was only ever going to be one winner. McGregor is the biggest name in MMA and, thanks to some very shrewd business moves, is one of the richest athletes on planet earth.
Add to that the fact that he is almost single-handedly responsible for some of UFC's highest-earning PPV events, and you begin to understand just how much money McGregor has.