To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Khabib Nurmagomedov Set To Earn Career-High Purse And Smash UFC Record For UFC 254 Fight

Khabib Nurmagomedov Set To Earn Career-High Purse And Smash UFC Record For UFC 254 Fight

Nurmagomedov is reportedly in line to receive his biggest UFC purse.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

MMA superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov is reportedly set to earn a career-high purse of $10 million for his UFC 254 title fight.

Nurmagomedov will defend his UFC lightweight title against interim champion Justin Gaethje this Saturday.

And it's claimed he'll pocket a huge sum of money for his third UFC title defence.

Reports suggest Nurmagomedov will receive $10 million as base pay which would be a UFC record.

That pay does not include pay-per-view points and discretionary bonuses.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, UFC president Dana White revealed that UFC 254 is trending bigger than UFC 229.

"Yeah, it's trending bigger than that right now," he said when asked if Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje will surpass the numbers generated from Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor.

Of course, these are unconfirmed reports though Nurmagomedov's previous pay in the UFC suggests the figure could be correct.

The 28-0 fighter earned a purse of $6 million (the current record for UFC base pay) when he defeated Dustin Poirier in his last Octagon outing.

And he earned $2 million for his mega-fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 229.

McGregor, who's considered UFC's money king, earned a base pay of $3 million for his fights against Nurmagomedov and Donald Cerrone.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Nurmagomedov's late father Abdulmanap once claimed his son had a net worth of $100 million.

When asked if his son's value was around $10 million to $50 million, Abdulmanap replied: "not enough," before answering that $100 million was a more "realistic" value per RT Sport.

The undefeated UFC champion is one of the highest paid athletes in the company and boasts lucrative sponsorship deals with Gorilla energy drinks and Reebok, among others.

Nurmagomedov, 32, hasn't fought since his submission victory over Poirier in September 2019.

But he makes his eagerly-awaited return this weekend at UFC 254.

Featured Image Credit: PA/Khabib Nurmagomedov

Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, UFC News, Fight News, UFC

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado, and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Darren Till, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

X

@https://twitter.com/NasJabbar