UFC’s Highest Earners Of 2020 Revealed

The UFC's highest earners for 2020 have been revealed and there's a few surprise inclusions in the top 20.

The team over at MMA Breakdown have crunched the numbers and it turns out some of the more high-profile mixed martial artists on the UFC roster had a pretty decent year financially.

UFC president Dana White. Credit. PA

Despite the coronavirus pandemic plaguing live sport for much of last year, UFC president Dana White did a fantastic job of putting on safeguarded fights to ensure his athletes could earn money during the tough times - even if it meant moving the events half-way round the world to empty arenas.

And while other sports have seemingly struggled amid COVID-19, the UFC has turned over some of its best figures to date - the slight increase in the average fighter wages proving that.

According to MMA Breakdown, the average UFC fighter raked in US$147,965 this year which is up from an average earnings of $146,673 in 2019.

PA

On top of that, 219 fighters (38%) from a roster of 580 earned six-figures salaries in 2020 - a 36% increase from 2019.

As for the cash cow of 2020, that came in the form of undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who took home US$6,090,000 from his title bout with Justin Gaethje.

UFC's top 20 biggest earners of 2020

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov = $6,090,000

2. Conor McGregor = $3,060,000

3. Junior dos Santos = $1,560,000

4. Israel Adesanya = $1,230,000

5. Justin Gaethje = $920,000

6. Jose Aldo = $900,000

7. Deiveson Figueiredo $ 875,000

8. Anthony Pettis = $855,000

9. Alistair Overeem = $830,000

10. Stipe Miocic = $790,000

11. Dominick Reyes = $760,000

12. Robert Whittaker = $745,000

13. Marcin Tybura = $701,000

14. Andrei Arlovski = $695,000

14. Tony Ferguson = $695,000

16. Donald Cerrone = $660,000

17. Kamaru Usman = $640,000

18. Anderson Silva = $620,000

18. Derrick Lewis = $620,000

20. Anthony Smith = $615,000

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, Australia, MMA, Dana White, , Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, UFC News, MMA News, UFC, Australia, MMA, Dana White,

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry