Top 10 Highest-Paid UFC Fighter In The World 2023 Update

Considering the fan base, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is growing tremendously in this 21st century and its American promotional company the Ultimate Fighting Championship is also widely popular in the nation.

The UFC fighters amass five to seven figures every season and that is one of the perks of being a UFC fighter. Those fighters usually fight under the banner of Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. 

Right now, UFC is one of the most beloved MMA sports in the world and that hype has been quite beneficial to its fighters.

They have been constantly taking advantage of the rise in the organization’s earnings and today the UFC fighters have both fame and money, which is an ultimately dangerous combination. 

But the question that has the right to rise in this situation is “Who is the highest-paid UFC fighter in the world?” If you have been looking for this answer for a long time then it’s time for you to sigh in relief as we are going to take you to the list of the top 10 UFC fighters who have managed to flabbergast their fans by delivering wonderful performances on the octagon. 

List Of Top 10 Highest-Paid UFC Fighter In The World 2023

Keep a hold on your jaw, for it must be dropping for sure. You don’t necessarily have to be surprised seeing the sum they are being ponied up, because each of these amounts describes well about their talent in their field.

If they are good at showcasing it, then UFC would not wait for another second to pay and encourage them in building up their career, by ultimately making the organization rich.

But before jumping into the core of this article, let us ask you one thing, have you checked the names written before the mind-blogging offensive numbers? Well, it’s human psychology to skip what is more important. Never mind!

So, in this article, we will see who occupies the top 10 positions in the list of the highest-earned UFC fighters.

10. Junior dos Santos – $5.97 million 

The former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Junior dos Santos is a phenomenal fighter in the Russian mixed martial arts promotion company, Eagle FC.  The Brazilian mixed martial artist is the tenth highest-paid UFC fighter on our list and that single statement is more than enough to define his potential. 

The veteran’s UFC debut was in the year 2008 when he fought against another Brazilian MMA, Fabricio Werdum. Ever since his debut, Santos fought 21 times in his entire career and that does sound like a pro. Among six of the 21 competitions he entered, he has brought at least 6 figures to his homeland. 

However, Santos’ highest-paid UFC match was fought at UFC 211 against Stipe Miocic, who defeated him and won the Heavyweight Championship. As per many suppositions, Santos earned around a million for the fight. So it was a good deal, though he couldn’t make it in the end.

Not only against Miocic, but Santos has also competed in several other high-profile bouts against Cain Velasquez, Cyril Gane, Francis Ngannou, Altair Overeem, and Tai Tuivasa. As a result of those competitions, he has witnessed a number of good paydays in his life. 

As of 2023, Junior dos Santos has a net worth of a whopping $10 million, and nobody is surprised. 

9. Donald Cerrone – $6.16 million 

You might find it difficult to recognize this UFC competitor as more than his birth name, the fighter is better known by his nickname, Cowboy. The American retired MMA fighter is multifaceted as he is also a skilled actor and a former professional kickboxer. Embrace yourself for you have a ton of facts yet to learn about him. 

Donald Cerrone, who was a Lightweight and Welterweight champion in UFC, has fought more than 50 times in his UFC career.

But still, he landed on his biggest payday towards the end of his career, all thanks to McGregor. Although Cerrone lost in a few seconds difference, UFC 246 honored him with a staggering paycheck that was worth more than $200,000. 

Now you might wonder why Cerrone is placed on #9. Well, the answer is simple, although he has managed to pull out at least a sum of $6.16 million throughout his career, there are many other fighters who have received much heavier cash prizes. 

But, if additional earnings are something to go by, then Cerrone might overshadow several fighters in this list as his net worth in 2023 is estimated to be $11 million, which is no joke.

8. Mark Hunt – $6.30 million 

The former MMA and kickboxer of Samoan descent, Mark Richard Hunt is eighth on our list of the top 10 highest-paid UFC players. Hunt won the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship until 2018. 

Hunt earned his best after he fought against Brock Lesnar in UFC 200.

Although the result was unfavorable, it was overturned after Lensar tested positive for a forbidden substance. But that turned out to uplift Hunt, who earned six figures for all the remaining matches he participated in.

The second biggest payday in Hunt’s life came after he won for the first and last time, against Derrick Lewis. Following the triumph, he immediately earned $810,000 as well as a Fight of the Night Bonus. In addition to that, a Reebok deal was also offered to him in order to celebrate his foremost victory. 

Although Hunt is among the highest-paid UFC fighters, his net worth might indicate otherwise. As of 2023, Mark Hunt’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million. 

Hunt is popularly known as “King of the walk” and that itself defines why he is called so. His stylish walk has been too iconic that people even imitate him by doing his walking style. 

7. Jon Jones – $7.03 million 

Jon Jones is an American professional MMA who is currently signed to UFC, where Jon Jones is a big name. He is the latest UFC Heavyweight Champion and that honor is crystal clear in his payment. The pound-for-pound champion has made several headlines, among which most of them were defenses or title fights.

There would be no objections if we claim that Jon Jones is one of the best UFC fighters of all time. He has all the qualities that a fighter needs and that has taken him to heights. 

The Light Heavyweight champion amassed his career-best earning at UFC 214 against Daniel Cormier, where he won and retained his LHW title. This moment gave goosebumps to every UFC admirer because the victory was legendary.

On that day, he was paid an astounding amount of %580,000, but sadly, the CSAC overturned the results later. 

But when you look back, he has always perfumed well in the Octagon winning two UFC Light Heavyweight Championships, which made him possess the title from March 2011 to April 2015 and December 2018 to August 2020. 

But when you ask how rich Jon Jones is in 2023, we can tell you that he has amassed a respectable net worth of $5 million in 2023. 

6. Georges St. Pierre – $7.04 million 

Georges St. Pierre needs no introduction among MMA fans. If you are one, then you might have identified this superstar fighter by his name. He is unarguably one of the best UFC fighters of all time.

When debuted, nobody might have known that he would everyone with his performance inside the ring. In 2017, he took home a whopping 7 figure payment after the epic fight against Michael Bisping. It was his return after hiatus and he made his comeback count. 

After that, someone snatched his title of Welterweight Champion, but he made sure he became a middleweight champ soon after defeating The Count.

Following that, GSP created history by becoming the fourth fighter to win the multi-division championship in the history of the Ultimate Fight Championship. That day, he got to receive a massive check for $2,580,000. 

Over the course of his career, GPS won several honors and he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2020 after being named Canadian Athlete of the Year. Up until now, he has been displaying most of his capacity and has already accomplished more than what the majority of UFC fighters can ever dream of. 

As of 2023, Georges St Pierre’s net worth is estimated to be an enormous $30 million. 

5. Michael Bisping – $7.14 million 

While St.Pierre celebrated his biggest payday, Micale Bisping was on the corner celebrating his success on the same day. Although, Bisping’s highest pay had nothing to do with GSPs career-best earnings as both figures had a significant gap between each other.

However, Bisping made an astounding total of $540,000. Perhaps, the difference in the price money might be because Bisping lost the fight. But still, he managed to pull a handsome figure which has also contributed to his fifth position in our list of well-paid UFC fighters. 

While everybody ran off from the octagon after their retirement, Bispinmg chose to cling as a color analyst and announcer on UFC. He had long retired in 2018 after debuting in UFC at TUF 3 Finale.

During his career span, he became the UFC 3 Light Heavyweight winner, Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion, and UFC Middleweight Champion. Because he has garnered a lot of attention in his days, Bisping is often remembered as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time.

As of 2023, Bisping’s net worth is believed to be $9 million.  

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4. Anderson Silva – $8.11 million 

Despite losing the majority of his last six fights, Anderson Silva is still ranked as the fourth highest-paid UFC fighter in the world. You must be wanting to ask why the saga was getting paid a good sum when he didn’t manage to win most of the recent championships he entered.

Well, Silva has a huge fan base, considering the quality of performance he delivered in the early stages of his career. Even after losing multiple times, people still cheered for Silva and believed that he deserved a better closure to his career. 

He retired after a knockout loss to Uriah Hall, but his stardom still prevails in the industry. The prestigious fighter earned a check worth $66,000 for his foremost bout after he started out in UFC.

Although began with a five-digit figure, he successfully landed on a six-digit figure by his fourth bout. However, Silva earned his highest in the fight at UFC 208 against Derek Brunson. Following that memorable fight, Silva was awarded a sum of $820,000. 

In 2023, the Brazilian Mixed Martial Artist had a net worth of $8 million. 

3. Khabib Numagomedov – $8.68 million

If you have been someone who continuously kept on following the UFC, then you must have searched for Khabib Numagonmedov’s name in our list of well-paid UFC fighters. He is one of the celebrated champions of the organization and do you want to know why? 

The retired LWT Champ is 13-0 undefeated in UFC and 29-0 in his entire career.

It is the $8,68 million figure that has placed Khabib in the third place in this list and the majority of their contribution to his career earnings is made by the competitions where he fought against Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

Khabib earned a total of $2,540,000 against McGregor and a stunning $6,000,000 against Poinier.

Khabib bagged more than $5,000,000 after he defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. But he announced his retirement shortly after the completion was finished. 

If these earnings are something to go by, then you can guess that Khabib must have earned a fortune by 2023. And you would be absolutely right if you guessed so. 

So, as of 2023, Khabib’s net worth is guesstimated to be $40 million. 

2. Alistair Overeem – $9.57 million

Can you imagine someone surpassing Brock Lesnar on debut? Well, that is Alistair Overeem. He simply earned a six-digit figure on his first match, and he continued to earn so for every competition he participated in.

For his last few fights, Overeem managed to earn a minimum of $800,000. In 2022, he won twice via knockout against Augusto Sakai and Walt Harris. 

Ever since he made his debut in 2011, Overeem has been constantly contributing to UFC in every way he can. Over the course of his career, he has garnered wins against the likes of Sergei Pavlovich, Brock Lesnar, Junior dos Santos, and Andrei Arlovski. 

Since Overeem is the second most well-paid UFC fighter ever, it makes sense for you to assert that he must have earned most of his income through his career as a professional UFC fighter and you can’t be more right as $9.57 million of his $10 million net worth is amassed from UFC. 

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1. Conor McGregor – $15.08 million 

Conor McGregor is the highest-paid UFC fighter in the world as he has by far managed to pull out the best sum ever. He owns the biggest paycheck the promotion has ever made and McGregor is the only fighter who drew a seven-figure sum during the last five fights. 

Although he has been on the octagon twice since 2016, he holds the top position on our list. As per Forbes, McGregor made a whopping $3 million for the fight he fought against Khabib Murmagomedov.

Later, McGregor himself claimed that he had earned around $15 million in early 2020 for the legendary fight he had with Donald Cerrone. 

As of 2023, Conor McGregor has piled up a net worth of $200 million. That is an astounding sum and he has a string of sources of income that pump him cash every now and then. 

Conclusion 

The fighters mentioned in our list of the highest-paid UFC fighters have created a benchmark for themselves, especially, Conor McGregor, who pulled the heaviest check ever held in the history of the UFC. 

By now, you must have noticed that there is a significant difference between the professional UFC stars’ earnings from the organization and their net worth. It is because many fighters on our list have been a part of several lucrative endorsement deals.