Conor McGregor only MMA fighter making anywhere near that - Ariel Helwani discloses George Kambosos Jr.'s fight purse against Devin Haney

According to Ariel Helwani, Conor McGregor is the only MMA fighter whose fight purse is near top-caliber boxing champions like George Kambosos Jr., who fought Devin Haney last night.

Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos Jr. ended after twelve rounds of action with a unanimous decision. Haney became the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, but Kambosos has a consolidation prize. Reportedly, he was awarded a $10 million guaranteed fight purse.

This kind of money is reserved for only a few combat sports athletes in the world, and in Helwani’s opinion, the Irishman is the only MMA fighter eligible to get anywhere near that.

Ariel Helwani posted on Twitter:

“For the MMA fans out there, Kambosos reportedly earned in the ballpark of 10 million for that fight. There ain’t an MMA fighter not named Conor McGregor making anywhere near that right now upfront. There should be. Several. But alas …”

The topic of MMA fighters’ pay is brought up almost every week for various reasons. Despite the sport’s massive rise in popularity, the fighters haven't noticed any monumental improvement in their purses. Only a select few, like Conor McGregor, have made it to the level of stardom that guarantees them fight purses worth millions of dollars.

On the other side of the fence, the boxing world can still produce multimillion-dollar fight purses for a single bout. Conor McGregor knew that and made a jump into boxing to face Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2017. Reportedly, ‘Notorious’ earned close to $100 million from his guaranteed purse and pay-per-view shares.

It was much more than for any of his UFC fights, as it was speculated he was paid $5 million for the Dustin Poirier trilogy fight in 2021.

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Conor McGregor broke Brock Lesnar's record for highest-paid UFC fighter

Per a report by MMA Fighting, McGregor surpassed Brock Lesnar as the highest-paid athlete in UFC history. The WWE superstar set the record by taking on Mark Hunt at UFC 200 on July 9, 2016, for a reported purse of $2.5 million.

However, the record didn't stand for long as 'Notorious' topped it soon after with his $3 million guaranteed purse money when he faced Nate Diaz at UFC 202 on August 20 of the same year. To this day, the Irishman remains the highest-earning UFC athlete.