The UFC is about to kick off a new seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount+, but the fighters competing for the promotion still aren’t making the same kind of money that puts them on par with top athletes from other sports.
4 boxers, 0 MMA fighters make top 100 highest-paid athletes list
Not a single MMA fighter qualified for the top 100 highest paid athletes in 2025.
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Damon Martin is a veteran journalist and insider covering combat sports since 2003.
A list of the top 100 highest-paid athletes in 2025 was released recently by Sportico with estimations made for both salaries and endorsements accounting for the total salaries made over the 12-month span. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list with $260 million, which included $200 million in contracted salary and another $60 million from endorsements and sponsorships.
When it comes to combat sports, boxing was represented in the No. 2 slot with Canelo Alvarez reportedly earning $137 million in 2025 with $125 million coming from his contracted payouts along with $12 million in endorsement deals.
Out of the top 100 highest-paid athletes, there were four total boxers listed with Terence Crawford at No. 21 after earning $66 million, Naoya Inoue at No. 25 with $62 million and Jake Paul rounding out the list at No. 30 with $60 million.
The athlete sitting at No. 100 was New York Knicks’ player OG Anunoby with $37.9 million earned in 2025.
There are several lists published each year with the highest-paid athletes with some salary information made public through contracts and negotiations, although often times the total amounts earned are only estimates.
The UFC fighter with the most appearances on these lists remains Conor McGregor, who actually hit No. 1 on Forbes’ highest paid athletes list back in 2021 after he reportedly earned $180 million but a huge part of that figure came from the Irish superstar selling the majority share in his Proper No. 12 whiskey brand for $150 million. McGregor also made a similar list after his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather back in 2017, but the largest part of his salary came from that fight because he did not compete in the UFC that year.
With the UFC doing away with pay-per-view as part of the deal with Paramount, which is where the highest-paid fighters typically made the vast majority of their salaries, it remains to be seen if anybody makes the list for 2026.
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