Set to put aside his featherweight title at UFC 314 this weekend, Ilia Topuria has some real lofty ambitions in mind for his combat sports campaign this annum.
Vacating the divisional strap, the Spaniard will watch past foe, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes vie for his former crown. With plans firmly in place for a lightweight divisional move, the unbeaten finisher wants gold from the get-go- a fruitless pursuit so far.
However, Topuria remains confident that UFC boss Dana White will keep his end of the bargain, and he will soon have his day under the sun. Having already announced his desire to achieve everything before moving from the sport, Topuria will need to win the title to ensure his plans for stardom continue to be actualized.
In fact, he is so ambitious that he wants to become the highest paid athlete of all time, topping the likes of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo from their perch- a feat only Conor McGregor had managed to achieve in 2021.
“I wanna make more money than everyone,” Topuria told Patrick Bet-David. “It’s not like I wanna be better than someone, like, if someone can do it, I wanna do it. And if no one did it, I wanna be the first one to do it”, he added with conviction.
“So this is the mentality,” Topuria added. “It’s not to look up to somebody, to look down to someone. It’s not because of that. I wanna experience that also — how it feels. To be the number one guy. Why not?” the Spaniard said, describing his ambitions.
Topuria currently boasts a reported estimated net worth of $3.5 million through earnings with the UFC, so he still has a long way to go.
McGregor, in 2021, collected in excess of $180 million in 12 months to make the Forbes list. Last year, it was Ronaldo, who found himself on top again, raking in $260 million.
So, if that’s really what Topuria is chasing, he’s going to have to sprint a marathon. Perhaps he can follow in McGregor’s footsteps.
How McGregor made 2021 successful
2021 was a sad year for McGregor’s MMA fans. The Irishman took on Dustin Poirier in the third match of a trilogy. In the lead-up, he truly made it personal with Poirier by talking about how his charity.
The two initially fought at UFC 257 in January 2021, where McGregor promised half a million to the “The Good Fight Foundation” to build a gym for disadvantaged youth. However, the funds would not be transferred, and Poirier would call the Irishman out on social media.
What would follow would be a high-intensity personal fight at UFC 264 later in the year. Unfortunately, despite the trash-talk, McGregor would break his foot during the fight, never to return to the octagon again.
However, despite what is now being referred to as his last fight ever, McGregor would find himself swimming in riches after his Proper Number Twelve Irish Whiskey would find a buyer, adding a serious amount of money to his bank accounts.
With his earnings, the Dubliner comfortably beat out both professional football icons, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, and everybody else on the list.
