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Over the last 20 years, the UFC has transitioned from a niche sporting league to one of the most popular in the world. The top mixed martial arts league is now mainstream and has completely taken over other combat sports such as boxing in popularity.
There are plenty of hardcore UFC fans who know the ins and the outs of the sport and the fighters who compete in it. At the same time, there are plenty of people who are relatively new to the sport and to the fighters themselves.
That’s why there are loads of sites out there who break down UFC betting for casuals, so they can know what the sport is all about and how to bet it. One of the first things you should do if you’re getting into UFC betting is research the highest paid UFC fighters of all time.
Here are the 10 highest paid UFC fighters of all time.
1. Conor McGregor
The enigmatic “golden boy,” as he’s called, Conor McGregor tops the list of highest paid UFC fighters of all time — and by a lot. To date, he’s earned roughly $20.1 million. He’s an extremely popular fighter, so he gets a lot of the top cards, but he backs it up with his skills in the octagon, too.
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
One of McGregor’s biggest rivals, Khabib Nurmagomedov, ranks second on the list at roughly $14.7 million in total UFC earnings. Khabib is a very impressive 29-0 in his career. Most of his earnings came in his last three fights, though, with the McGregor bout bringing in loads of cash for the fighter.
3. Alistair Overeem
Overeem has made an impressive $10.2 million in the UFC, but he’s also made a lot of money in MMA fights outside of the UFC league. From a period between 2016 and 2018, Overeem earned more than $800,000 for each of his seven fights in that timeframe.
4. Andrei Arlovski
Arlovski rose to popularity — and to the top of the UFC fighter ranks — just as the organization was getting very popular. This makes it both impressive and surprising that he’s so high on the list, with more than $9.8 million in career earnings. A lot of that came from a fight with Fedor Emelianenko that happened in 2009, but his overall total is still impressive.
5. Anderson Silva
Silva was the pound-for-pound best fighter in the UFC for quite a long time. He had success at both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, which made his run all that more impressive. For his career, Silva has earned more than $8.7 million in MMA fights.
6. Jon Jones
Jon “Bones” Jones has had a lot of controversy surrounding his career, but there’s no denying his talent — and the amount of money that he was able to bring in while fighting. There are plenty of people who believe that Jones is the best fighter to ever compete in UFC. For his career, he’s earned more than $7.2 million.
7. Michael Bisping
The winner of one of the first Ultimate Fighter TV shows, the Brit has fought quite a lot in his UFC career, and that has led to a lot of earnings in the octagon. He started in 2009 and ended up winning a championship belt seven years after he started. He is well-known for fighting a lot of bouts, and that led to his career earnings of more than $7.1 million.
8. Junior dos Santos
One of the top heavyweight champions of all time in the UFC, dos Santos has made quite the career for himself in the UFC. He had some really big fights in his career, and those contributed to a lot of his earnings. One was a big rematch fight with Stipe Miocic that was for the heavyweight belt. He’s earned more than $7.1 million in his UFC career.
9. George St-Pierre
One of the best mixed martial arts fighters in MMA history, St-Pierre unfortunately arrived at a time before there were absolutely enormous PPV cards and huge payouts. Still, he’s earned a lot of money during his time in the octagon, and rightfully so. For his career, he’s earned a little more than $7 million.
10. Donald Cerrone
Cerrone fought a lot, and that’s how he earned as much as he did over his career. At the peak of his fighting days, he fought as many as five fights a year. While he never won a championship belt in the UFC, he did rack up a mighty sum in earnings. In his career, he earned a little more than $7 million.
