"I Would Think Only One Fighter": Tony Bellew Makes Bold Claim About Conor McGregor’s UFC Legacy
Former boxing champion Tony Bellew has argued that Conor McGregor is the only UFC fighter with a legitimate case that he was underpaid relative to the money he generated for the promotion. He said that McGregor could have been a billionaire.
Conor McGregor has always split opinion when the subject of UFC pay comes up. Recently, Tony Bellew has just added his own blunt take on it. The former cruiserweight world champion says McGregor is the one man in the promotion's history with a genuine gripe about what Dana White has paid him.
Bellew made the comment while speaking with promoter Eddie Hearn on the Fight Your Corner podcast, weighing in on White's long-standing defense of UFC fighter pay against comparisons with boxing purses.
Why Tony Bellew Says McGregor Deserved More From the UFC
Tony Bellew's argument revolves around a simple gap. Fighters like Conor McGregor built the UFC into a global attraction, he says, yet the money they walked away with never matched what they helped generate for the promotion. McGregor, in particular, stands out to him as the clearest case.
“I would think only one fighter, and he still hasn't got everything he's generated, but I would say there's one fighter in Conor McGregor who's earned I'm not saying,” Bellew shared on the Fight Your Corner podcast.
“He's earned fairly, that's what you'd say, that he's earned a lot of money. But ultimately he hasn't earned what he's generated because Conor McGregor could be a billionaire if he did what he generated,” he added.
The 38-year-old Irishman turned himself into one of combat sports' biggest draws long before his move into boxing, headlining a 2017 crossover bout against Floyd Mayweather that pulled in numbers few fighters could dream of. Since that loss, McGregor's UFC appearances have been rare, but his box office pull hasn't faded.
Tony Bellew Still Rates Dana White's Work With the UFC
Bellew was quick to add that the criticism does not change how he views White's broader achievement. He called the promotion one of the best combat sports franchises ever built, crediting White with turning the UFC into the dominant force it is today despite his own reservations about fighter compensation.
White has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that UFC pay lags behind boxing, a stance that has drawn criticism from various corners of combat sports, including his public feud with Jake Paul. Bellew's comments arrive as part of that wider, ongoing debate rather than as an isolated shot at the 57-year-old UFC boss.
McGregor's own UFC story took another hit in July when he returned from a lengthy layoff to face Max Holloway at UFC 320 in Las Vegas, only to suffer a first-round TKO loss after a knee injury derailed the fight early. Where his career goes from here is now an open question.