Topics: Conor McGregor, Michael Jordan, UFC, Boxing, NBA
Conor McGregor intends to become the richest sporting star ever before his career ends, dethroning NBA icon Michael Jordan.
McGregor is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in sport, known for his exciting fighting style and brutal trash talk.
Having enjoyed a highly successful 16-year career, the Irishman has banked hundreds of millions of dollars, making him by far the richest UFC fighter of all time.
And he's not prepared to stop there, as McGregor has spoken about his plans to overtake NBA superstar Michael Jordan as the richest athlete of all time.
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In January this year, McGregor spoke on the UFC YouTube channel about his financial aspirations when previewing his much-anticipated bout with Michael Chandler.
He said: "It's motivating, Michael Jordan's at the top spot, obviously with the Jordan brand that took him there, he's worth multiple billions.
"I think it's $3.3billion he's made. I'm closing in on a billion, I think I'm at about $650m all in that I've made.
"I think they estimate that, I'd probably have to do my own little check of that, but I fancy my chances of getting up that list.
“It was good to see, that Forbes [richest athletes of the year list] was a goal of mine to hit that, I got that and onwards we go."
At the time, McGregor was ranked 33rd in the list which was published by Sportico and, while he currently remains in the top 50 list, he has since fallen to the bottom.
That being said, he still remains the only mixed martial artist on the list and is in good company amongst some of sports greatest ever athletes such as Lionel Messi, Mike Tyson and Lewis Hamilton.
The list estimates that, when adjusted for inflation, the former UFC two-weight champion has earned $555million throughout his career.
The biggest pay day of McGregor's career came in 2017 when he fought legendary boxer Floyd Mayweather for a reported purse of around $100m.
Since then, McGregor has embarked in several business endeavours outside of his fighting career, including starting whiskey brand Proper no. Twelve or investing in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
However, he still has a long way to go if he hopes to dethrone Jordan who is estimated to have earned a breathtaking $3.75billion through his career in the NBA and highly successful shoe partnership with Nike.
