$200 million man Conor McGregor celebrates Dana White’s Forbes feature, credits him for helping top the highest-paid list

Irish MMA icon Conor McGregor recently lauded his boss, UFC CEO and president Dana White, for making it to the cover of Forbes Magazine. The exclusive feature, which was entitled 'Populist Capitalist', delved into White's significant influence on Donald Trump's recent presidential win, amongst many things.

McGregor, who once topped Forbes' highest-paid athletes list back in 2021, posted a photo of himself and the magazine with White's face on the cover. He credited the MMA pioneering CEO for his success in the sport, financially.

McGregor wrote on the copy:

"@danawhite congrats on the @forbes cover. A man that helped me top the Forbes Highest Paid Athlete list!"

Conor McGregor's Instagram story. [Screenshot courtesy: @thenotoriousmma on Instagram]

'The Notorious' last fought inside the octagon in 2021 in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier - and approximately earned less than $25 million for it. The majority of his earnings that year came from his business ventures and sponsorships. While one can question if he truly owed White his financial milestones that year, it can be argued that the UFC CEO's efforts to boost McGregor's star power contributed to his earnings outside the octagon.

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When Conor McGregor topped the Forbes highest-paid athletes list in 2021

Back in 2021, McGregor made MMA history by becoming the first-ever MMA fighter to top Forbes Magazine's Highest Paid Athletes list. 'The Notorious', the confident seer that he is, predicted this achievement years before it happened. This was, however, not without a caveat as the majority of the Irishman's earnings that year didn't come from fighting.

Of the $180 million that McGregor earned that year, $150 million could be credited to the sale of his majority stake in Proper No.12 Irish Whiskey to Proximo Spirits. The lucrative sale is a product of his exorbitant efforts to push the whiskey brand to mainstream consciousness. Outside this, McGregor earned an additional $8 million from various sponsorships and smaller business ventures.

The Irish MMA superstar's financial successes may be on a decline as of late, however. In light of his civil case loss in November 2024 to Nikita Hand in which he was deemed liable for assault, McGregor saw a major decline in the public eye.

Major repercussions of this include having to pay Hand 250,000 Euros plus about 1.3 million Euros in legal fees. On top of this, Proper No.12 severed ties with him. Also, major Irish stores and shopping centers reportedly ceased selling products related to McGregor, costing him possibly millions in revenue.