In a report by ESPN’s Darren Rovell, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta predicted that newly-crowned UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is on track to being the very first fighter in the UFC to earn $100 million or more over the course of his career.
The reasoning for the estimation is based on McGregor’s fight purses, performance bonuses, pay-per-view bonuses, and any other possible contractual perks. Curiously enough, Fertitta’s projection did not include endorsement deals that McGregor would have outside of fighting or television or film work such as the upcoming XXX film should that come to fruition.
This is a tremendous show of faith in McGregor’s earning potential and mass appeal in the future, and it’s even more meaningful when it comes from someone that operates a substantial part of the organization and really knows how much McGregor is currently earning as well as how much he is on track to make later on. Already a champion at age 27, time will tell if this will in fact come to pass.