Lorenzo Fertitta, chairman and chief executive officer of the UFC, believes new featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be "our first $100 millionaire."
That's according to ESPN's Darren Rovell, who notes Fertitta expects the Irishman to hit nine figures solely from the sport alone—that is, based on "fight earnings, bonuses and pay-per-view revenue" and not even including sponsorship, endorsement and entertainment deals.
The 27-year-old forged a reputation as one of the UFC's most fearsome fighters and recently solidified that standing when he stunned previous champion Jose Aldo with a sensational 13-second knockout—the fastest ever in a UFC world-title fight.
As Rovell reveals, McGregor was well-compensated for his victory, raking in $500,000 for the fight itself as well as $90,000 in bonuses and a thus-far undisclosed share of the pay-per-view buys, estimated at "more than one million."
However, those numbers are well short of what he needs to earn $100 million dollars over the course of his career purely from fighting, and as Rovell notes, at the very least, "he's going to have to stay relevant for a while."
While McGregor so far looks head and shoulders above his competition, staying at the top of the sport in the long-term could be a difficult ask with upsets always potentially lying in wait—just ask Ronda Rousey.
For now, though, he can look forward to a significantly increased income both inside and outside the UFC after his meteoric rise to the top.
