Midnight Mania! McGregor will make $30 million, Mayweather $100 million minimum

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It is no secret that Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather are fighting primarily because of the money they will make. For McGregor, it is also an opportunity to become a crossover star; if, in all possible realities, we enter the one in which McGregor somehow bests Floyd Mayweather, he stands to become the most famous combat sports athlete of our time. For Mayweather, this fight is simply the least risk for the most monetary reward. It is solely about the dollars for “Money” Mayweather.

And dollars he will be making. MMAFighting.com revealed the purse sizes for this colossal fight. McGregor will be officially making ten times his previous, UFC-record fight purse, a whopping 30 million dollars. Mayweather receives over three times that amount, his minimum payout equaling 100 million dollars. Of course, both fighters will make much more than this, once ticket sales, Pay-Per-View buys, concessions, sponsorship money and merchandise is factored in. McGregor estimated his earnings to be in the hundred million dollar range; Mayweather will make close to 350 million.

It highlights what an exploitative cut the UFC takes from its fighters, even superstars like Conor McGregor; estimates of fighters’ share of income range between 12 and 20 percent. Other major sports, such as football, hockey, and basketball, see their athletes take home around 50% of the gross income due to collective bargaining agreements. Where McGregor goes from here will be interesting; it is hard to picture him going back to making three million dollars per fight after this spectacle.

Of course, no one else on the card is making anything close to that kind of money.

For much more on “Mayweather vs. McGregor” be sure to hit up our comprehensive (and impressive) collection of event-related stories right here.

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Insomnia

Dana White goes off on another promoter, who went off on McGregor-Mayweather? What else is new?

Make sure you get the good stuff

Nick Diaz has a point

McGregor with some high-tech training that probably won’t matter much tomorrow night

McGregor already beat the Mountain so I’m sure the Hound can

How to fight the Mountain

How to spar the (actual) Mountain

How to armwrestle the Mountain

Crazy Conor McGregor and an accurate summation of what will happen tomorrow

Betting sites are really, really, REALLY hoping Mayweather wins as expected

The state of discussion surrounding this fight:

All of Ireland descended on Vegas for their hero.

Amir Khan thinks McGregor is stopped in eight rounds

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Good Reads

There are a couple good columns on McGregor-Mayweather to read before it is upon us.

• Jeremy Botter takes a look at the history behind the philosophy behind the Secret, the success-win philosophy behind McGregor’s mindset that lays behind his rise. In other words, some deep digging here- but a good read.
• Patrick Wyman discusses how this fight might actually play out, and the death of expertise. You know what the Dunning-Kruger effect is? If not, read this.

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Slips, Rips, and Knockout Clips

Koreshkov crushed Lima tonight at Bellator 182

Fernando Gonzales choked out Brennan Ward tonight, also at Bellator 182

This is why MMA is so awesome

Rare baseball bat choke

Kickboxing is fun, too.

And finally, whet your boxing appetite for tomorrow night

He moved right into the right hand... I mean... he moved straight into the right straight.

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Random Land

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