Conor McGregor's UFC 194 Earnings Per Second Forecasted by Forbes
Conor McGregor will reportedly set a new record for earnings per second with his 13-second KO win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194, breaking Ronda Rousey's mark.
According to Forbes' Matt Connolly, Rousey set the record during her 34-second win over Bethe Correia, making just over $147,000 per second. Included in that figure is a share of the pay-per-view buys, her standard fight and sponsor pay and a “Performance of the Night” bonus, per Fortune's Valentina Zarya.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
McGregor has a similar clause in his contract, giving him the rights to a share of the PPV buys, and with UFC 194 expected to total at least one million buys―UFC 189 easily reached that mark―and the new featherweight champion earning another $580,000 through fight and sponsor pay, he's set to have made at least $3.5 million in total, or $275,000 per second during Saturday's bout.
Per Connolly, more optimistic projections even place his earnings as high as $622,000 per second, or $8 million in total.
Those are incredible numbers for what was basically 13 seconds of work, although McGregor told his fans a lot of preparation went into ensuring the fight would be as short as it was:
BT Sport was kind enough to share footage of the spectacular knockout:
As shared by ESPN Stats and Info, McGregor's win was officially the fastest ever in a UFC title fight, breaking another of Rousey's records:
To say the result of UFC 194's main event was a shock would be an understatement. McGregor was widely regarded as the stiffest test former champion Aldo would face in years, but the Brazilian had held the featherweight title since its inception and hadn't lost a fight since 2005, per ESPN.com.
Aldo is one of the most accomplished and well-rounded fighters of his generation, a man with superb defensive skills and a battle-tested chin. And yet all it took was one blinding left hook to erase his decade-long unbeaten streak. NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal was impressed:
Per the Daily Telegraph's Gareth A Davies, McGregor has already compared his earnings on Saturday with those of boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr., claiming he's “catching up to Mayweather-Pacquiao” and only just getting started.
As one of the biggest and most marketable stars in UFC right now, it's hard to disagree with the Irishman. An immediate rematch with Aldo is an option and would likely do well in the PPV market again, although UFC President Dana White has already confirmed he will receive an immediate title shot if he moves up a weight class, per MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
