Conor McGregor is aiming to overtake basketball legend Michael Jordan's phenomenal $3.3billion fortune over the coming years after learning of his wealth.
The legendary former UFC champion is pushing towards making his first billion, after a massive money sale of his Proper Twelve whiskey brand for over £500million. The sale came shortly after a series of fights that launched his average earnings into the tens of millions, including a £100m purse for a crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather.
And he has now set his sights on Jordan, who according to a recent statista study, is the highest paid athlete of all time, primarily earning his money after retiring with his Air Jordan brand. He is widely considered the greatest basketball player in history, and has netted a reported $3.3b, or around £2.67b throughout his life.
"33 is an angel number," McGregor said of his ranking during an interview with the official UFC YouTube channel. "It's motivating, Michael Jordan's at the top spot, obviously with the Jordan brand that took him there, he's worth multiple billions - I think it's $3.3b he's made.
"I'm closing in on a billion, I think I'm at about $650m all in that I've made. I think they estimate that, I'd probably have to do my own little check of that, but I fancy my chances of getting up that list. It was good to see, that Forbes [richest athletes of the year list] was a goal of mine to hit that, I got that and onwards we go."
McGregor is 26 years Jordan's junior at 34-years-old, and believes that he has another world title run in him. He will return to the octagon after two years out this December against Michael Chandler, and fancies his chances at making history yet again by winning welterweight gold, following his lightweight and featherweight wins.
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Jordan reportedly earned around $93.7m during his 19-year playing career that included six NBA titles, six MVPs in the NBA finals and 14 inclusions in the league's All-Star team. That would amount to around $150-200m in today's money, meaning that the majority of his earnings were off the court, with his current net worth believed to be around $2b.
The Irishman has a number of major businesses outside of the octagon, with Proper Twelve the initially most profitable. He has another alcohol brand set to launch in the UK called Forged Irish Stout, along with a host of pubs set to join his empire that started with Dublin hotspot The Black Forge Inn.
He is also involved in TIDL Recovery spray, as well as owning a number of worldwide properties on top of a clothing line and involvement with his management company Paradigm Sports. He also recently broke into Hollywood, filming a starring role in Road House alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and owns a media outlet called The Mac Life.
