WWE and UFC athletes earn a decent amount of money for competing in their respective industries, but how do they compare?

Of course, a few people have competed in both WWE and the UFC, such as Matt Riddle, Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar.

However, GiveMeSport has looked at the salaries of the highest-paid UFC and WWE stars, with regard to their yearly earnings, allowing for an easy comparison.

Top 10 highest-paid UFC fighters in 2021

Stats aren't available yet for the salaries of UFC fighters in 2022, as the year isn't up, but The Sports Daily has looked at how much the top ten highest-earning UFC fighters brought in last year.

These figures only include the reported salaries of each fighter, including the fight bonuses that have been made public.

Many fighters, particularly those at the top of the card, will get additional bonuses which haven't been reported, and thus we aren't able to include them.

Below are the ten highest-paid UFC fighters from last year, and how much they pocketed for competing in the sport.

  • Conor McGregor - $10 million
  • Dustin Poirier - $2.5 million
  • Kamaru Usman - $2 million
  • Derrick Lewis - $1.5 million
  • Jan Blachowicz - $1.2 million
  • Israel Adesanya - $1.1 million
  • Andrei Ariovski - $1.1 million
  • Max Holloway - $961,000
  • Charlies Oliveira - $947,000
  • Jose Aldo - $942,000

Unsurprisingly, the highest-paid star last year was Conor McGregor, who brought home over $10,000,000, and that's without including the bonuses we spoke about.

Conor McGregor smiles after Jose Aldo KO

LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 12: Conor McGregor celebrates after a first-round knockout victory over Jose Aldo in their featherweight title fight during UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

Top 10 highest-paid WWE Superstars in 2022

The salaries of several WWE Superstars for 2022 have been made available, via The Mirror, so we'll use them to compare with the UFC fighters.

For clarity, the figures mentioned below are just for the base salary of the WWE Superstars, who like the UFC fighters, will make more money through additional bonuses.

  • Brock Lesnar $12 million
  • John Cena $8.5 million
  • Roman Reigns $5 million
  • Randy Orton $4.5 million
  • AJ Styles $3 million
  • Kevin Owens $3 million
  • Seth Rollins $3 million
  • Goldberg $3 million
  • The Undertaker $2.5 million (Retired)
  • The Miz $2.5 million

Interestingly enough, it's former UFC star Brock Lesnar who brings home the most from his work with WWE, earning a base salary of $12 million as part of his current deal.

So, the ten highest-paid UFC fighters earned an average of $2,225,000, with the ten highest-paid WWE Superstars earning a fair bit more, with an average of $4,700,000.

So, based on these figures, it certainly looks like it pays more to work for the WWE than the UFC, and that's emphasised by Brock Lesnar's salaries working in both sports.

Read More: Brock Lesnar salary: How much does 'The Beast' make in WWE compared to UFC?

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