Conor McGregor is one of the most famous athletes in the world.
So says the latest ESPN ‘World Fame 100’ list, which was released by the sporting giant earlier today. In it, McGregor is ranked at number 5 — a jump from his rank of 18 last year — and surpassed only by soccer stars Neymar, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo (who tops the list) and basketball icon LeBron James.
The list (which can be viewed here) is an accumulated analysis by ESPN to find out who is the most famous athlete on the planet. According to ESPN, the findings are evaluated by “a proprietary formula that took into account three fame factors.”
Essentially the company looked at how often a name is searched for online, how many endorsement dollars an athlete receives and how social media followers an athlete possesses.
Joining McGregor on the list from mixed martial arts is UFC 229 opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, who, unranked last year, finds himself at number 15 in 2019 — no doubt in part to his high profile rivalry with McGregor, and their record breaking pay-per-view numbers for the UFC 229 event. The pair are the only two representatives from the sport to feature.
Rounding out the top ten from number six onwards is: Roger Federer, Virat Kohli, Rafael Nadal, Stephen Curry and Tiger Woods.
