UFC

JAKE PAUL claimed in only his third fight he earned more than any UFC fighter ever bar Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Paul did not reveal how much he earned for knocking out retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, but did take aim at Dana White.

He accused the UFC president of underpaying his stars and boasted about making more than anyone else on his roster.
But still, the YouTuber is some way off reaching the heights of some of boxing’s greatest.
Here, SunSport runs down the richest fighters ever and how they made their fortune.
Floyd Mayweather – £325m
Mayweather was the pay-per-view and pound-for-pound king during his iconic 50-0 career.
His fights with McGregor and Manny Pacquiao alone banked him more than £600m, with the American claiming to have retired with over £1BILLION in career earning.
He topped Forbes’ rich list of the decade with a £706m fortune, but his excessive spending and investments still leaves him with a healthy £325m net worth.
Floyd Mayweather is the highest paid fighter of all timeCredit: Getty
George Foreman – £215m
The heavyweight fought the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in the 1970s earning him £4m to face ‘The Greatest’.
When he returned in 1987 for a second run at the title after ten years out, he went on to become the oldest heavyweight champ of all time aged 45 and made millions in the process.
But a large chunk of Foreman’s £215m net worth comes from the success of his Foreman grills, earning £143m in endorsements outside the ring.
George Foreman with one of his grillsCredit: Getty – Contributor
CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH

Manny Pacquiao – £160m
PacMan still has one of the greatest fanbases in boxing spanning across the Philippines and America.
He is said to have earned £320m in purses but has given a large amount of money away to charity in his homeland.
Still, the Filipino presidential hopeful is still one of the highest paid active boxers, pocketing a £7m guarantee plus PPV bonuses in his last fight.
Manny Pacquiao is one of the highest paid boxers everCredit: Getty
Oscar De La Hoya – £145m
The Golden Boy was the poster boy for for Stateside boxing during his championship reign and headlined 19 PPVs.
For his fight against Mayweather, he banked a £37m and had a guarantee of £14.3 before losing to Pacquaio.
De La Hoya also launched a successful promotional banner, previously working with Canelo Alvarez.
Oscar De La Hoya became a promoter after he retiredCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Lennox Lewis – £100m
Lewis retired with wins over the likes of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko proving a success in tickets and PPV sales.
He is believed to have earned £34m alone for those three fights.
Lewis also had cameos in the 2001 movie Ocean’s Eleven, Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J’s song ‘All I Have’ music video and Celebrity Apprentice in 2008.
Lennox Lewis was the undisputed championCredit: AP:Associated Press
Canelo Alvarez – £100m
The Mexican superstar is currently the biggest attraction in boxing today and in 2018 signed a record-breaking 11-fight deal with DAZN worth £300m.
The contract was prematurely terminated in 2020 after only three fights with Canelo preferring to be a free agent, despite twice boxing on DAZN after.
He’s still the highest paid fighter in the world, and banked around £65m in his last five fights alone.
is currently the biggest attraction in boxing todayCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Conor McGregor – £85m
McGregor is easily the UFC’s highest paid fighter of all time, earning £2.3m for his last three fights – but PPV bonuses would have seen that number sky rocket.
His 2017 boxing debut against Mayweather has also helped contribute massively to his ever growing net worth.
And with business in whiskey, clothing, fitness and sponsorships outside the cage, McGregor has earned a pretty penny away from fighting.
Conor McGregor is easily the UFC’s highest paid fighter of all timeCredit: Getty
Sugar Ray Leonard – £85m
Sugar Ray retired a rich man thanks to his iconic fights against rivals Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns.
But he has also made a fortune real estate investments and in 2019 put his amazing mansion in Los Angels up for sale for £42m.
It did not sell, but Leonard has worked as a motivational speaker and broadcaster.
Sugar Ray Leonard made a fortune real estate investments and in 2019Credit: Reuters
Anthony Joshua – £65m
Joshua has been the face of British boxing since his 2013 debut and currently reigns as a two-time unified champion.
He has headlined 11 PPVs and made a career-best £66m for his rematch on Saudi Arabian soil against Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.
With a potential two-fight doubler header with Tyson Fury to come, it could potentially double AJ’s net worth.
Anthony Joshua is a two-time unified championCredit: Getty
Wladimir Klitschko – £65m
Klitschko and his brother Vitali dominated the heavyweight scene during the tail-end of their careers.
The Ukrainian earned just over £30m for his losses against Fury and Joshua.
He also had sponsorship deals with SAP, Porsche, Deutsche Telecom and McFit.
Heavyweight legend Wladimir KlitschkoCredit: Getty – Contributor
Frank Warren warns Eddie Hearn about DAZN move as Matchroom boss will no longer have Sky’s marketing machine behind them More

JAKE PAUL claimed he has been training with alligators to get in the best shape possible for boxing.The YouTuber has also set his sights on fights with three major UFC stars including Conor McGregor.
Jake Paul says he’s been training with alligators in order to get in the best shape for boxingCredit: Getty
The YouTuber reckons the deadly beasts have been part of his workout regimeCredit: Alamy
Paul is preparing for a potential bout with Tommy Fury and reckons he is working out with the beasts to give him the best chance of winning.
Several high-profile names – including UFC chief Dana White – have criticised the 24-year-old’s 3-0 boxing ‘career’.
But the online personality defended himself in an interview with Max on Boxing and said: “I am dedicating my whole entire life to this training – 10 or 12 hours a day, stretching, sprinting, boxing, jogging, running up hills, chasing alligators – I am doing it all.”
Paul is set to take on Fury after he confirmed talks are underway.
The Paul/Tommy feud began when WBC champ Tyson Fury implored Paul to take on his younger brother.
Since then the pair have trash talked each other over social media and they are both keen to face one another in the ring.
But the YouTuber is also keen to take on UFC icon McGregor as well as Nate Diaz and Daniel Cormier.
He added: “I want to be undefeated and want to beat good guys. I want Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor, those are the guys I want to go up against.”
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Paul is preparing for a potential fight with Tommy FuryCredit: Instagram

Cormier threatened to SLAP Paul at UFC 261 but has since said he’d never fight him as he’d ‘kill him’ and ‘wouldn’t want to punch down’.
And McGregor also scoffed at the suggestion he would box Paul and called him a ‘blogger jackass’.
UFC chief White has also promised to launch legal proceedings against Paul if he tries to fight an active UFC fighter.
And he also called him a liar and ‘full of s***’ after Paul claimed he pulled in 1.5million PPVs for his win over Ben Askren.
Despite Cormier point blank refusing to fight him after a he faced down a scared looking Paul at UFC 261, the YouTuber has tried to revive the possibility of a scrap again.
He said: “I’m down 100 per cent. I just don’t think he’ll do it.
“He is retired, and he has no room to talk. I’ll fight Daniel, that’ll be massive and I think I would win.”
⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
UFC chief Dana White claims Jake Paul is ‘full of s***’ and lied about 1.5m PPV buys for Ben Askren fight More

JAKE PAUL claimed he has been training with alligators to get in the best shape possible for boxing.The YouTuber has also set his sights on fights with three major UFC stars including Conor McGregor.
Jake Paul says he’s been training with alligators in order to get in the best shape for boxingCredit: Getty
The YouTuber reckons the deadly beasts have been part of his workout regimeCredit: Alamy
Paul is preparing for a potential bout with Tommy Fury and reckons he is working out with the beasts to give him the best chance of winning.
Several high-profile names – including UFC chief Dana White – have criticised the 24-year-old’s 3-0 boxing ‘career’.
But the online personality defended himself in an interview with Max on Boxing and said: “I am dedicating my whole entire life to this training – 10 or 12 hours a day, stretching, sprinting, boxing, jogging, running up hills, chasing alligators – I am doing it all.”
Paul is set to take on Fury after he confirmed talks are underway.
The Paul/Tommy feud began when WBC champ Tyson Fury implored Paul to take on his younger brother.
Since then the pair have trash talked each other over social media and they are both keen to face one another in the ring.
But the YouTuber is also keen to take on UFC icon McGregor as well as Nate Diaz and Daniel Cormier.
He added: “I want to be undefeated and want to beat good guys. I want Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor, those are the guys I want to go up against.”
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
Paul is preparing for a potential fight with Tommy FuryCredit: Instagram

Cormier threatened to SLAP Paul at UFC 261 but has since said he’d never fight him as he’d ‘kill him’ and ‘wouldn’t want to punch down’.
And McGregor also scoffed at the suggestion he would box Paul and called him a ‘blogger jackass’.
UFC chief White has also promised to launch legal proceedings against Paul if he tries to fight an active UFC fighter.
And he also called him a liar and ‘full of s***’ after Paul claimed he pulled in 1.5million PPVs for his win over Ben Askren.
Despite Cormier point blank refusing to fight him after a he faced down a scared looking Paul at UFC 261, the YouTuber has tried to revive the possibility of a scrap again.
He said: “I’m down 100 per cent. I just don’t think he’ll do it.
“He is retired, and he has no room to talk. I’ll fight Daniel, that’ll be massive and I think I would win.”
⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
UFC chief Dana White claims Jake Paul is ‘full of s***’ and lied about 1.5m PPV buys for Ben Askren fight More

JAKE PAUL blasted Dana White over UFC fighters’ pay as he took aim at the promoter online. White has been vocal about Paul’s boxing career and even revealed he would bet $1million on the YouTuber losing to Ben Askren.
Dana White was targeted by YouTuber Jake Paul onlineCredit: Reuters
Daniel Cormier confronted by Jake Paul at UFC 261Credit: Getty
But after Askren was knocked out, the UFC president said the reported 1.5million pay-per-view buys were made up.
Paul – who was cageside a booed at UFC 261 – responded in a Twitter post and claimed he earns more than any MMA star bar Khabib Nurmagomedov or Conor McGregor.
He posted: “Dana, you claimed you would bet $1 million on me losing.
“Set up Askren to train with Freddie Roach. Gave him full access to the UFCPI and he still got his ass handed to him.
“In my third fight, I made more money in total pay than any fighter in UFC history. Maybe it’s time to pay your fighters their fair share?
“No wonder they all want to get into boxing. Dana, you say you make the fights the fans want to see, so hurry up and make [Jon] Jones vs [Francis] Ngannou.
“Pay them their fair share. $10 million purse for each guy plus pay-per-view. Why are UFC fighters so underpaid versus boxers?
“Why did I make more in my third fight than all but two (Khabib and Conor) UFC fighters have in history. I know why.”

FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE

Paul, 24, is 3-0 in his boxing career with knockout wins over online rival ‘AnEsonGib’, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 36, and retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, also 36.
But White is not convinced by the social media sensation and accused his team of lying about their box office success.
He said: “He knocked out an NBA guy that was 40 years old and 30 pounds less than him. I don’t even know what to think about the Askren thing.
“The whole thing is f***ing mind-boggling to me, but good for him. Grab that money while you can, kid.
“I don’t believe anything they say. That’s a f***ing circus. None of that is real. Do you think any of that s*** that’s going on over there is real?
“C’mon, man. I built a real business here, a real sport.”
UFC chief Dana White claims Jake Paul is ‘full of s***’ and lied about 1.5m PPV buys for Ben Askren fight More

EX-UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier threatened to ‘slap’ Jake Paul after the YouTuber gatecrashed UFC 261.Fans in attendance at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida broke into a chant of ‘f*** Jake Paul’ after the social media star was spotted in the crowd during the final prelim fight between Randy Brown and Alex Oliveira.
Cormier confronts Paul after he gatecrashed UFC 261Credit: Reuters
Cormier wags his finger in Paul’s faceCredit: Getty

And that set off the normally calm and jovial Cormier, who the YouTuber targetted after his brutal KO victory over Ben Askren last weekend.
An irate Cormier said: “I swear to god, I just saw Jake Paul.
“I pointed at him, I said, ‘Don’t play with me.’ Because I’ll slap him in the face. I don’t play those games, Joe.”
A fired-up Cormier confronted the outspoken Disney star and wagged his finger in his face between fights.
Despite the heated confrontation and threatening to ‘slap’ Paul, Cormier has refused to entertain the prospect of fighting the 24-year-old.
During the latest episode of the DC & Helwani Show, he said: “This dude would never fight me.
“I would kill him. Why would I ever fight someone like that?”

CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH

“But my immediate reaction was, ‘I can’t stand this kid.’ So it works!
“I can’t stand this kid! But who punches down?
“You don’t punch down to somebody. I’m the guy that’s in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m the guy that won two world championships at the same time.
“I’m not gonna punch down to some kid that’s on YouTube that’s, like, ‘Fight me!’ Like, why?”

After branding Cormier a ‘fat boy’ on Twitter, Paul took further aim at DC during an appearance on his brother Logan’s podcast.
He said: “So many fake motherf*s in this generation.
“Daniel Cormier, (mimicking) ‘That’s my boy Ben, he’s gonna beat Jake, he pushed him in the face so he’s gonna win now, chirp, chirp, chirp.’
“I knock him out and he’s on Twitter, ‘Ben, are you serious, bro, you went down like that? Ben are you kidding me? Ben, I can’t believe you did that to the MMA community.’
“Shut the f*** up b*. I’ll beat the f*** out of your fat ass too, just like Stipe [Miocic] did. Cleveland s.
“I swear to God, I’ll beat the f*** out of Daniel Cormier.”
UFC legend Daniel Cormier claims he would ‘kill’ Jake Paul in fight after YouTuber labelled him ‘fat’ More

UFC star Jorge Masvidal has joked he will invite Jake Paul to his wedding after the YouTuber knocked out Ben Askren last weekend.The 24-year-old stopped the MMA ace inside the first round of their boxing bout to improve his record to 3-0, with Gamebred’s prediction coming true.

Jake Paul blasted out MMA fighter Ben Askren in the first round of their boxing boutCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Masvidal – who blasted out Askren in just FIVE seconds during their clash in 2019 – has received backlash from fans after he backed Paul to win.
And supporters were fuming with the American after he spent time training with Paul earlier in the year.
He then labelled Askren as a ‘crotch sniffer’ earlier this month, much to the anger of the UFC faithful.
The 36-year-old – who is preparing for his rematch against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman this weekend – has spoken of how the outrage has affected him.
In an interview with BBC Sounds, he said: “Definitely the MMA fans turned on me, and then as soon as Ben got knocked out, everybody was like ‘oh you was right, we shouldn’t have done this or that’.
“Me, I’m the type of person that you already made you bed, now lay in it. I just said in my heart what I thought would happen, which it did.
“Ben’s always disrespected the sport of MMA, he’s always said, ‘I don’t need to strike, I can just outwrestle any of these guys. I don’t need to hit pads, I don’t need to spar’.
“So for people to say he was a representative of MMA, never. Never could we have found a guy that was further from being a representative of MMA.

CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH
Jorge Masvidal knocked out Askren in just five seconds during their 2019 meeting inside the OctagonCredit: Getty – Contributor

“Because MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts, that means you have to show love, discipline, time and dedication to each one of those arts.
“To striking, to wrestling, to jiu-jitsu to this, to that, you have to do it and that’s how you become a Mixed Martial Artist. Ben Askren was none of that.
“That’s why he was the perfect opponent for Jake Paul to get an impressive win.
“Ben can’t jab, Ben doesn’t know how to move his head, Ben can’t generate power to hurt anybody so under those rule settings of straight boxing, it’s the worst environment for him.
“To think this guy was a reprentative of my beautiful sport for all of us… and that’s why the MMA fans got upset and let them f***ing stay upset.
“That backlash that I got and people trying to bully me and stuff like that, if anything I’ll invite Jake Paul to my f***ing wedding now.
“Because I know it’ll p*** off so many people that I hung out with this guy and showed him some things.”
Jake Paul taunts Ben Askren during press conference by FaceTiming Jorge Masvidal More

FORMER UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley wants a piece of YouTube star Jake Paul.The social media star turned boxer stretched his unbeaten run to 3-0 last weekend with a stunning first-round knockout of Woodley’s good friend Ben Askren.
How Jake Paul stacks up in comparison to Tyron WoodleyCredit: SUNSPORT

But it was Paul’s pre-fight actions that drew the ire of Woodley.
The ex-Disney actor and his cornerman J’Leon Love trash-talked Woodley as the former UFC 170lb king watched him have his hands wrapped.
That irked Woodley, who told ESPN: “You had a lot to say in the locker room, let’s fight.
“I wanna hear what [Jake Paul] gotta say about it. You wanna fight me? He could fight me.
“I’ll fight his friend in MMA, because I wanna elbow his ass. I don’t want no little boxing, the poofy gloves.
“I wanna elbow, I wanna f***ing hit his face. I wanna almost break his arm and just let him out.
CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH

“So if his boy wants to fight me, he’s gonna have to come and see me in the cage.”
But how does Woodley stack up against The Problem Child?
SunSport is on hand to give you all the details on a potential showdown between the pair.
Age
Father time is definitely on the side of Paul, who has yet to reach his physical prime at the age of 24.
Woodley, meanwhile, recently turned 39 – although the St. Louis slugger is still very much a physical specimen.
Jake Paul is only 24 years oldCredit: Getty
Experience
Paul has three professional boxing matches to his name in comparison to Woodley’s 0.
However, Woodley’s overall combat sports experience far outweighs that of the Ohio native.
Woodley has made the walk to the cage a staggering 27 times, winning 19 of those matches.
In addition to his 27 professional fights, Woodley also has seven amateur contests to his name – bringing his total number of bouts to 34.
Tyron Woodley has over ten times as many MMA fights as Jake Paul has had boxing boutsCredit: Getty

Physical
The divisive Paul is three inches taller than Woodley at 6’0 and has a two-inch reach advantage over the MMA vet.
Woodley, however, is significantly heavier than Paul, weighing a full stone more than the former Vine sensation at 14st, 6lbs.
Form
Paul is currently on a red-hot streak having won all three of his fights via TKO.
Woodley, meanwhile, is on the worst run of his 12-year-long career having lost his last four in a row.
UFC legend Daniel Cormier claims he would ‘kill’ Jake Paul in fight after YouTuber labelled him ‘fat’ More

FUTURE UFC Hall-of-Famer Daniel Cormier has shut down talk of a fight with Jake Paul, insisting he’d ‘kill’ the YouTuber.Former Disney star Paul called out DC last weekend shortly after his brutal first-round knockout of ex-UFC welterweight Ben Askren.
Jake Paul branded Daniel Cormier a ‘fat boy’ in the fallout from his win over Ben AskrenCredit: Getty
Daniel Cormier insists he’d ‘kill’ Jake Paul if the pair were to ever fightCredit: Getty
Cormier was branded a ‘fat boy’ by Paul after voicing his anger at the 24-year-old’s disrespect towards former 170lb champ Tyron Woodley.
But DC insists he wouldn’t contemplate fighting the social media star, saying during the latest episode of the DC & Helwani Show. “This dude would never fight me.
“I would kill him. Why would I ever fight someone like that?”
“But my immediate reaction was, ‘I can’t stand this kid.’ So it works!
“I can’t stand this kid! But who punches down?
“You don’t punch down to somebody. I’m the guy that’s in the Hall of Fame.
“I’m the guy that won two world championships at the same time.
“I’m not gonna punch down to some kid that’s on YouTube that’s, like, ‘Fight me!’ Like, why?”
CASINO SIGN UP OFFER: CLAIM UP TO £800 IN CASINO BONUS CASH

Cormier has been irked by Paul mentioning his name, adding: “What have you done to earn the right to fight me?
“So, no, it’s silly and stupid.”
The UFC’s second simultaneous two-weight world champion would like to see Paul face a proficient striker next and is intrigued by the prospect of Woodley or his American Kickboxing Academy team-mate Luke Rockhold sharing the ring with The Problem Child.
He said: “I would like him to fight Tyron. I would like to see him fight somebody more real. Don’t fight Ben Askren at 190, bloated.
“Fight a middleweight (185 lbs in MMA). Fight Luke Rockhold!
“Let me see you fight Luke Rockhold or somebody like that.
“And then I will not only say that you have base skills, I will say you’re a real fighter. Because right now it’s all pretend. It’s all pretend.”

Daniel Cormier insists he has no intention of ever fighting Jake PaulCredit: Getty
Jake Paul knocked out Ben Askren in the first round of their Triller Fight Club clashCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Paul doubled down on his call out of Cormier during an appearance on brother Logan’s Impaulsive podcast, saying: “So many fake motherf*****s in this generation.
“Daniel Cormier, (mimicking) ‘That’s my boy Ben, he’s gonna beat Jake, he pushed him in the face so he’s gonna win now, chirp, chirp, chirp.’
“I knock him out and he’s on Twitter, ‘Ben, are you serious, bro, you went down like that? Ben are you kidding me? Ben, I can’t believe you did that to the MMA community.’
“Shut the f*** up b*. I’ll beat the f**k out of your fat ass too, just like Stipe [Miocic] did. Cleveland s.
“I swear to God, I’ll beat the f**k out of Daniel Cormier.”
Tyron Woodley has altercation with Jake Paul at his fight against Ben Askren More