Conor McGregor Ranks No. 1 on Forbes’ Highest Paid Athletes List for 2021

The whiskey business has been quite lucrative for Conor McGregor.

The former UFC two-division champion checked in at No. 1 on Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes for 2021. McGregor’s ranking was due in large part to selling a majority stake of Proper No. Twelve for $150 million.

According to Forbes, McGregor earned a total of $180 million the past 12 months, and that includes $158 million outside of his fighting career. The Irish superstar joins Tiger Woods and Roger Federer as the only athletes to garner in excess of $70 million outside of their sport while still actively competing.

While whiskey was the main source of McGregor’s rise to the top of the list, he also secured endorsements with DraftKings, the video game Dystopia: Contest of Heroes and Roots of Fight. McGregor previously made the Forbes Top 10 in 2018 with $99 million in earnings following his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather.

McGregor, who ranked just ahead of soccer stars Lionel Messi ($130 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($120 million), was the only combat sports athlete to make the Top 10.

The “Notorious” one will return to action for a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He reportedly made $22 million for his second-round TKO loss to Poirier at UFC 257 on Jan. 23.