Largest ever confirmed UFC contract wasn’t Conor McGregor’s – Can you guess who it belonged to?

Benny A. King

Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor are undoubtedly the biggest UFC stars. Naturally they also come to mind when we think about highest-paid athletes in the UFC.

 

Lesnar was a huge WWE superstar who managed to transition to MMA and become the Heavyweight champion of the world. Rousey became a fan-favorite appearing in everything from commercials to blockbuster movies during her undefeated UFC reign, and Conor McGregor is arguably the biggest star to ever set foot inside the octagon.

However, according to MMA Journalist John Nash, the highest-paid guaranteed purse was given to none of these megastars. Instead, former lightweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov had the honor of earning the highest UFC guaranteed purse of all time.

In an interview with fellow MMA journalist Luke Thomas for his Youtube channel, Nash revealed.

“I’ve heard from multiple sources that the highest guaranteed check ever is probably Khabib,” Nash told Luke Thomas. “It was at least six million but I heard it was probably maybe ten million dollars guaranteed for his last couple…”
Nash then explained that part of that lucrative payment was due to Khabib Nurmagomedov being involved in getting the UFC a deal with the United Arab Emirates.
 “A big part of that supposedly was he was the guy that helped negotiate that United Arab Emirates deal,” Nash said. “Also the middle east north African TV deal he was part of”
The UFC signed a five-year partnership with the Arabian country in 2019. The deal guarantees title events to be held in Dubai through 2024.
Khabib defended his belt against Dustin Poirier in September of 2019 at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian would later return to the United Arab Emirates when he performed for the last time in his career when he defended his belt against Justin Gaethje in October of 2020 for UFC 254, also in Abu Dhabi.