New study reveals that Connor McGregor is the most influential Mixed Martial Artist, earning up to $152,576 per sponsored Instagram post.
Research conducted by MMA experts Middle Easy examined the Instagram profiles of every MMA fighter with a following of over one million, both past and present, to establish which star is the most influential and how much they can earn per sponsored Instagram post.

Irish MMA star Connor McGregor, known on Instagram as ‘thenotoriousmma’ took the top spot earning a potential $152,576 per sponsored post on Instagram. The former UFC champion has amassed a follower count of 46 million, the highest of all the MMA fighters and has an engagement rate of 0.44%.

Recently retired Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov is revealed as the second most influential MMA on Instagram, with an earning potential of $113K per sponsored post thanks to his 34 million followers and one of the highest engagement rates of all the MMA stars at just over 2%.

Taking the third spot is renowned former US MMA star Ronda Rousey who has now turned her skills to WWE. She has the third-highest Instagram following with just over 16 million followers and an engagement rate of 0.48%. These stats mean she can potentially earn up to $54,260 per Instagram post.

The fourth most influential MMA fighter on Instagram is Nigerian star Israel Adesanya aka ‘stylebender’. With 7 million followers, Israel can expect to earn up to $23,534 per sponsored post.

The final fighter making it into the top five is American MMA star Jon Jones, known by his Instagram handle ‘jonnybones’. Famed for becoming the youngest UFC champion in history, he has 6.6 million followers on Instagram and an engagement rate of 1.16%. As a result, he can expect to earn $20,231 per sponsored post.

A spokesperson for Middle Easy commented on the findings: “The explosion in popularity of MMA across the globe over the past couple of decades has been quite phenomenal.
These findings highlight how influential these Mixed Martial Artists are on social media, many of whom have followings on par with major film and music personalities. It is also great to see that both male and female MMA stars have made it into the top 10 list of the most influential on Instagram”

The research was conducted by Middle Easy, which provides the latest MMA news from around the globe.