From rags to riches: 7 MMA fighters that made it big in the octagon

Professional sports are littered with athletes who rise from nothing to accomplish great things. But no sport offers more opportunities to rise above life’s challenges than fighting in mixed martial arts. Fortunes are made in the octagon and here is a list of fighters who turned their rags into riches. 

Long before Anderson Silva was knocking out opponents left and right he was knocking out burgers at his local McDonald's.  

Silva’s family was so poor that they couldn’t afford to take care of him, according to Low Kick MMA.

Luckily, Silva found his calling at an early age and after his long and storied career in the UFC. According to Celebrity Net Worth,  he has a net worth of around $8 million dollars. Sadly, no amount of money will help fans forget Silva’s loss to Jake Paul in a 2022 boxing bout. 

Dominick Cruz has always been known for his Spartan lifestyle and maybe that’s because of his difficult childhood and upbringing. Cruz was only five years old when his parents divorced, an event that had a serious impact on his life. 

During an interview with Yahoo Sports, Cruz stated that “Basically, that wired me to be a champion. I could have been a victim of life, but realistically, what a gift that was.” 

What a gift indeed. Cruz parlayed his childhood pain into a crisp $2.5 million dollars according to Media Referee. 

“I had the weight of the world put on me at a very young age and my ability to handle that and succeed helped make me the athlete and the person I am today,” Cruz said in an interview with Yahoo. 

Junior Dos Santos was apparently already working a variety of jobs at the age of ten to help support his family according to azcentral.com. 

At 21, he felt depleted and overweight, so he joined a local jiu-jitsu gym. One year later he became the UFC’s heavyweight champion. 

"Everything happened so fast," dos Santos told azcentral’s Richard Obert, "every story I heard talking to champions, they started their martial arts training very young. In my case, it was very late." 

Dos Santos’ late start in MMA didn’t seem to detract from his career since Sports Lite has reported that he has a $10 million dollar fortune. I guess that’s what you get when you’re one of the sports’ most prolific heavyweights. 

Miesha Tate is an interesting addition to this list because if she hadn’t joined the UFC she probably would have lived a relatively wealthy life on a different career path. 

Tate gave up on medical school to enter the octagon in 2007 with Strikeforce. Together with then-boyfriend Bryan Caraway, the pair lived in an RV before all of her hard work eventually paid off two years later. 

Today the former Bantamweight Champion’s net worth is pegged at $6 million according to Sportskeeda. 

If you’re a fan of MMA then you knew Nate Diaz was going to make this list at some point. Diaz had an extremely rough childhood and is quoted saying he learned mixed martial arts while fighting because the guys in the gym would buy him food after training. 

“That was actually the main reason I wanted to go train. I didn’t have any money," Diaz said in an interview with MMA Fighting. 

"At home we didn’t have s–t. I was starving all day. So if I went to train I’d get something to eat,” Diaz added. 

Nate eventually upgraded to buying himself dinner after becoming one of the most successful fighters in the UFC and today Sportskeeda has purported that he has a personal net worth upwards of $8 million. 

Ronda Rousey is probably mixed martial arts' most famous female fighter. But she should be better known for her stunning rise to riches. 

After retiring from Judo with just $10,000 to her name, Rousey was able to pick up work as a bouncer and cocktail waitress before hitting it big with a career in Strikeforce and later the UFC. 

Since beginning her career in MMA, Rousey has been able to not only prove herself as a skilled fighter in the octagon but she’s also been able to translate to the silver screen. 

Rousey has started in several A-list blockbusters including 'Furious 7', 'Charlie's Angels, and 'The Expendables 3.'

Today she has a net worth of over $12 million dollars and is among the top 20 richest MMA fighters according to her Wikipedia profile. 

There has been no other mixed martial artist that has risen to the same levels of fame and fortune as Conor McGregor, a feat even more impressive when you consider his life before joining the UFC.

Less humble than his beginnings, Conor grew up dirt poor and was just as well off prior to pursuing a career in MMA. 

”Just last week I was collecting the social welfare,” McGregor told the press during the post-fight press conference of his UFC debut according to Yahoo Sports. 

After rising to the top in both the featherweight and lightweight divisions and earning upward of $33 million per fight, McGregor transitioned to more lucrative events like boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a guaranteed $30 million and ultimately $85 million according to Cnet. 

Today McGregor’s wealth is estimated to be somewhere in the $200 million dollar range, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

But the notorious Irish fighter’s out-of-octagon personality and willingness to take on any challenge could send his net worth skyrocketing even higher.