McGregor is the UFC’s biggest earner and has pocketed some huge paydays over the years, but Fury has earned considerably more than the Irishman during his career

Tyson Fury trumps Conor McGregor when comparing some of the combat sports stars’ biggest reported purses of their respective careers.

Heavyweight world champion Fury, who fights Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed titles in February, is one of the biggest earners in boxing. The Brit has pocketed multiple eight-figure paydays throughout his illustrious boxing career and has never been beaten in the ring, with his flawless professional record currently sitting at 34-0-1.

Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor is the highest earner to ever grace MMA’s leading promotion. His astronomical rise in 2015 saw him capture two world titles before becoming the first fighter to hold belts in two weight classes simultaneously in 2016. So let’s take a look at how five of his and Fury’s biggest paydays compare…

Conor McGregor

McGregor didn’t pocket his first seven-figure UFC payday until competing for his first world title in the summer of 2015 when he fought Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title. The Irishman had already notched up five wins for the promotion by this point and his short-notice win against Mendes earned him a respectable £2.5million.

Just five months after winning the interim belt, McGregor became the undisputed champion by knocking out Jose Aldo in a record-breaking 13-seconds. The win catapulted him to superstar status and also marked his highest UFC payday at the time, taking home £3.5million in his first fight that sold over one million pay-per-view buys.

McGregor was scheduled to fight for the UFC lightweight world title in March 2016, but instead faced gritty veteran Nate Diaz on short-notice after Rafael Dos Anjos withdrew due to injury. The fight marked his first loss in the promotion as he was tapped out inside three rounds, but he took home £4.3million for the fight.

‘Notorious’ avenged his defeat against Diaz later that year and earned slightly more than the first fight by pocketing £4.4million. McGregor’s flawless lightweight title win against Eddie Alvarez just months after defeating Diaz saw him take home £5.3million, however it’s worth noting that McGregor likely earned considerably more than this for his fights with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.

Official sums of those purses are unclear, whereas the five previous paydays have all been verified as part of the ongoing class action lawsuit against the UFC. McGregor’s earnings for 2015/2016 came to light in the newly released documents as the lawsuit was granted class-action status by Federal Judge Richard F. Boulware in August.

Tyson Fury

When Fury controversially fought to a split draw with feared knockout artist Deontay Wilder in December 2018, it was inevitable that both men would soon meet again. The rematch happened just a month before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the entire world and Fury went into the lockdown period as a heavyweight champion, knocking out Wilder to pocket over a £20million purse.

Fury was set to fight bitter rival Anthony Joshua after his stunning win over Wilder, but an arbitration case got in the way of the domestic grudge match and he was instead ruled to fight Wilder for the third time. The epic trilogy fight, which Fury won by knockout, earned him around £13million.

When Fury signed with Top Rank after fighting Wilder for the first time, the deal earned him a massive £30million for just two fights. ‘The Gypsy King’ made easy work of Tom Schwarz by knocking out in the German in two rounds and he suffered a close scare against Otto Wallin, but won a one-sided unanimous decision after sustaining a nasty cut.

Fury made his UK return six months after his trilogy fight with Wilder as he faced perennial contender Dillian Whyte. The Brit hadn’t fought on home turf for almost four years and he put on a stunning performance in front of 94,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, knocking out Whyte to earn £25million.

Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou finally got his wish in October as he secured a crossover fight against Fury. The pair fought over 10 rounds in Saudi Arabia as Fury needed to pick himself up off the canvas to win by just a single point on the judges’ scorecards. Fury, who could earn £100million for fighting Usyk, pocketed a massive £50million for the fight.