5 Highest-Paid UFC Fighters In 2018

Mixed martial arts is a sport that has, over the recent past, come to fascinate and draw large crowds from around the world. Promotional organizations such as the UFC, Bellator, and ONE Championship, have been renowned for bringing in some of the greatest talents, the sport has seen in its sufficiently long existence.

As the years go by, we witness fights that define the very gruelling nature of the sport. However, in this case, as we will be looking at the UFC, there are only a handful of fighters that help bring in the big bucks. With the importance of extravagant pay-per-view numbers on the rise, it is only fair to bring to the notice of people, about some of the highest paid fighters in the UFC. So, with no further ado,

Here are 5 of the highest paid UFC fighters, in the year 2018.

#5 Alistair Overeem ($6,119,500)

Alistair Overeem, over the years, has been regarded as an immensely decorated fighter, in the heavyweight division. He is a Dutch mixed martial artist and a former kickboxer of the highest accord. He has found himself to be a part of many promotional avenues such the PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1 World Grand Prix, Dream, Strikeforce, and the UFC.

Overeem is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, a former K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and one of only two fighters to hold championship titles in both the MMA and kickboxing disciplines. Fearfully known as the demolition man, he has amassed victories over big names in the fighting business such as - Vitor Belfort, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum, Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, and Junior dos Santos.

Alistair Overeem's recent fights against the likes of heavyweights in Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, and Sergey Pavlovich have enabled the president of the UFC, Dana White, to expand the net worth of the business. His latest bout against Pavlovich earned him a total of $850,000, including a Reebok sponsorship of $10,000, leaving him at number 5 in the highest paid fighters list of 2018, with a total career earning of a little over 6-million dollars.

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#4 Anderson Silva ($6,822,000)

Anderson 'The Spider' Silva is regarded, to this day, as one of the greatest strikers to ever grace the Octagon. He is a professional Brazilian mixed martial artist who has been an ardent practitioner and veteran of the sport for over 20 years.

He has found himself to be a part of various MMA promotions such as Mecca, Shooto, Cage Rage, PRIDE, and the UFC. Silva is also the second on the list of fighters with the maximum number of successful title defenses, having only Demetrious Johnson above his name.

Following an unprecedented win streak of 16 fights in a row, Anderson Silva faced his first loss in the UFC against fellow middleweight, Chris Weidman. Although this defeat changed the course of Silva's performance as a fighter with the UFC, fight fans around the world gather in big numbers to see one of the greatest of all times, in operation.

Anderson Silva, last competed against Derek Brunson, in a fight that was considered a controversial decision win for 'The Spider.' Silva, however, earned a total of $820,000, which included a win bonus of $200,000, and a Reebok sponsorship worth $20,000. After his performance against Brunson at UFC 208, Silva tested positive for synthetic testosterone and a banned diuretic in a sample taken in October 2017, making him eligible for a probable 4-year ban.

The extent of the ban, however, was shortened, with Silva returning to the Octagon on February 10th, 2019, in a much-anticipated contest against 'The Last Stylebender' Israel Adesanya. The result of the fight may be unknown, but Anderson Silva is sure to receive a big paycheck by the end of the night, ensuring his total career earnings to be only a little shy of 7-million dollars.

#3 Georges St-Pierre ($7,037,000)

Georges 'Rush' St-Pierre, fondly known as GSP, is a Canadian mixed martial artist who is noted to be one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. After a mammoth 12-fight win streak with the UFC, the then-welterweight champion, St-Pierre, decided to hang his gloves in 2013 after a win over Johny Hendricks, before taking what would be a four-year layoff from the sport.

His exceptional run with the UFC suffered only two defeats against former welterweight champions, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Following his 4-year hiatus from the sport, GSP began negotiations with the president of the UFC, Dana White, on February 15th, 2017. In March 2017, it was clear that St-Pierre had signed a contract for four fights with the UFC, for the future.

On the precipice of his comeback, GSP featured in a middleweight title fight against former middleweight champion, Michael Bisping. The pair fought at the main event of UFC 217, on November 4, 2017, where GSP went on to defeat Bisping via rear naked choke, in round number three of their championship bout. Post this fight and just over a month into being champion, on December 7th, 2017, St-Pierre decided that he would vacate his middleweight title. As a result of suffering from ulcerative colitis, GSP no longer wished to hold the middleweight division up.

Only a select handful of individuals make more than a fortune after a putting their life on the line in the Octagon. Georges St-Pierre's fight against Michael Bisping earned him a career highest paycheck at $2,580,000, which included a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, and a $30,000 Reebok sponsorship. GSP will soon be looking to make an appearance in the Octagon and continue his winning streak at the UFC. GSP's total career earnings, at the moment, is a little over 7-million dollars.

#2 Michael Bisping ($7,135,000)

Nicknamed 'The Count' Michael Bisping is a former UFC middleweight and Cage Rage light heavyweight champion. He is known for his slick trash talking that has found him success in fights against the likes of Luke Rockhold, Dan Henderson, and Anderson Silva. During the event of UFC 199, Michael Bisping became the first ever British fighter to win a UFC championship.

Michael Bisping is also a sports analyst and an actor. He works as a FOX UFC studio analyst on FOX and FS1 UFC weigh-in, prefight, prelims, and postfight shows. He has served as an analyst for FOX Sports since 2014 and is a widely acclaimed podcast co-host as well. Bisping began his run with the UFC by being a part of the light heavyweight roster. After suffering a loss against Rashad Evans at UFC 78 via split decision, he made the career-altering choice to move down a weight class, to middleweight.

During a crucial rematch for the UFC's middleweight title fight between Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, the former went on to become Britain's first ever UFC champion by knocking Luke Rockhold out in the very first round. He went on to then defend the title against Dan Henderson, who he beat via unanimous decision to retain his championship.

Following the return of GSP to the UFC, Bisping was scheduled to fight the Canadian at UFC 217 and defend his middleweight title for what could have been the second time. His loss to St-Pierre, however, came after a five-fight win streak that he previously amassed before stepping into his fight at UFC 217.

The bout, however, earned him a total purse of $540,000, which included a $40,000 Reebok sponsorship, leaving his current earnings scaling over the 7-million dollar figure.

#1 Conor McGregor (9,542,000)

Conor McGregor has hands down been the most famous star in all of combat sports, in recent years. He is an Irish mixed martial artist and boxer who was the first fighter in the history of the UFC, to hold multiple division championship belts, at the same time. Before signing with the UFC, Conor McGregor was the featherweight and lightweight titleholder at Cage Warriors.

Conor McGregor is the biggest pay-per-view attracting mega-star in MMA history, having featured in four out of the six highest selling UFC main events. His infamous fight against current UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, drew in a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, which happens to be the highest ever for an MMA event. He also was a part of a boxing match against the great, Floyd Mayweather Jr., which collected the second highest pay-per-view numbers in North America, at 4.3 million buys.

In the year 2017, McGregor pulled in close to $99 million, thanks to his match fee and endorsements during and after his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. His long list of 13 impressive business ventures, include promotional deals with Burger King, Beats by Dre, David August, Monster Energy, BSN, Anheuser-Busch, HiSmile, and Betsafe. Conor McGregor made it to the number 4th spot of the Forbes list for the highest paid sportspersons, in the year 2017.

Following his fight with Khabib, McGregor made a total of $3,030,000, which included a $30,000 fight week incentive pay. His total career earnings, excluded boxing is a little over 12-million dollars, making him the richest and highest paid fighter in the UFC.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram