Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the biggest superstar ever to grace the UFC octagon. He’s also the promotion’s biggest-ever draw and has headlined five of the highest-earning pay-per-view events ever. Nevertheless, it seems the Irishman wasn’t fairly compensated by UFC during the height of his stardom between 2015 and 2016.
It’s no secret that the promotion is currently facing a class-action lawsuit, which is expected to go to trial next year. Over the past few days, there’s been an increase in activity regarding the case. Several exhibits and motions filed with the court were recently made public as part of the legal proceedings.
In a report by Bloody Elbow, which analyzed these unredacted documents, complete payouts for several high-profile fighters like Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor from 2011 to 2016 were revealed.
It came to light that Conor McGregor made about $25 million for five fights between 2015 and 2016. From the Chad Mendes fight at UFC 189 in July 2015 to Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016. Between these bouts, McGregor fought Nate Diaz twice and unified the featherweight championship against Jose Aldo.
While these were record-breaking pay-per-view events, records show that ‘The Notorious’ made no more than $25 million despite raking in hundreds of millions for the company. After @Notori6us shared the news on X, fans flocked to the comments section to express their thoughts.
One fan slammed the UFC CEO Dana White and wrote:
“Dana doesn’t deserve Conor. That bald f**k will pay for his sins.”
Another fan wrote:
“Dana really made all the money in that era.”
Check out some more reactions below:
Screenshots from @Notori6us on X
Chael Sonnen casts doubt over the Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout
UFC alum Chael Sonnen recently weighed in on the highly anticipated Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler bout. ‘The American Gangster’ questioned why no weight class was finalized for the bout and cast doubts over the fight materializing.
After fracturing his leg against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, McGregor was sidelined for over two years. However, he’s now set to return and has even submitted his test samples to USADA.
Michael Chandler is expected to be his comeback opponent, considering they coached opposite each other in the last installment of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ where they clashed regularly. However, Chael Sonnen isn’t getting his hopes up just yet.
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Sonnen asked why a weight class hadn’t been decided for the McGregor-Chandler bout and said:
“Never in history have we had a fight where we don’t have a weight class. That simply does not happen… It still hasn’t been stated if Conor McGregor is going to 170 or 155 or do a catchweight… I’m just sharing with you this is getting a little weird at this point.”
Catch Sonnen’s comments below (36:30):
