Roger Federer and Conor McGregor are not known to have a close friendship, business partnership or sporting rivalry. Federer is a retired Swiss tennis champion; McGregor is an Irish mixed-martial-arts fighter and former UFC champion. Their clearest public connection comes from a 2018 Federer interview in which he referred indirectly to McGregor while discussing standards of behaviour in sport.
There is also a striking commercial parallel. Federer topped Forbes’ annual highest-paid-athletes ranking in 2020, while McGregor took the No. 1 position a year later. Beyond those points of overlap, their careers have unfolded in very different worlds.
What actually connects Roger Federer and Conor McGregor?
The strongest direct connection dates to November 2018, when Federer was discussing the controversy surrounding Serena Williams and chair umpire Carlos Ramos at that year’s US Open.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, reproduced by Business Insider, Federer argued that tennis was generally well behaved compared with some other sports. He said: “You see the UFC guy throw a railing.”
Contemporaneous reports identified “the UFC guy” as Conor McGregor. That distinction matters because Federer did not use McGregor’s name in the accessible wording of the quotation itself.
The remark was widely understood as a reference to the April 2018 incident at Barclays Center in New York, when McGregor was filmed throwing a hand truck, often described as a dolly, at a bus carrying UFC fighters. Federer used the episode as an example while making a broader point about conduct in professional sport.
There is no public confirmation of a close personal friendship between Federer and McGregor, nor of a joint business venture or formal collaboration. It would also be too strong to say that they have never met: no definitive public record establishes that either way.
Federer and McGregor also shared the top of Forbes’ rankings
The other obvious connection is financial, although it needs careful wording.
In 2020, Federer became the first tennis player to finish No. 1 on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Forbes estimated his earnings at $106.3 million over the relevant 12-month period.
One year later, McGregor topped Forbes’ 2021 ranking with estimated earnings of $180 million. A large part of that total came from off-field business income, including proceeds associated with his majority stake in Proper No. Twelve whiskey.
Those figures are annual earnings estimates, not estimates of either man’s personal net worth. They measure income over defined periods and should not be treated as a balance sheet of assets, debts and investments.
The back-to-back No. 1 finishes nevertheless place Federer and McGregor in a small group of athletes whose commercial reach extended well beyond competition.
Federer’s path from junior prospect to tennis champion
Federer’s career developed over more than two decades at the highest level of tennis.
Born in Basel, Switzerland, he began playing at a young age and later worked with Australian coach Peter Carter, an important figure in his early development. By 1998, Federer had become the world’s leading junior player.
One of his early breakthroughs came at Wimbledon in 2001, when he defeated Pete Sampras in the fourth round. Two years later, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon.
He would eventually finish with 20 Grand Slam singles championships, including a men’s-record eight Wimbledon titles, and 103 ATP singles titles. He also spent 310 weeks as world No. 1.
Those numbers place Federer among the most accomplished players in men’s tennis history. His career spanned eras in which he competed repeatedly against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, helping define one of the sport’s most closely watched generations.
Federer’s professional career ended at the Laver Cup in London in September 2022. His official website records 24 years as a professional, 20 major titles and 103 singles championships, while noting that he has remained involved in tennis and in the work of the Roger Federer Foundation since retiring.
In August 2026, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, adding a formal institutional honour to an already complete playing career.
McGregor’s rise through the UFC
McGregor’s career followed a much faster and more confrontational route to global fame.
The Dublin-born fighter made his UFC debut in April 2013 and quickly became one of the promotion’s most visible competitors. His first UFC championship came in December 2015, when he knocked out José Aldo in 13 seconds to win the featherweight title.
Less than a year later, McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to win the lightweight championship. In doing so, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight divisions at the same time.
That achievement remains one of the defining milestones of his MMA career.
McGregor also crossed into professional boxing in 2017 for a highly publicised bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. The fight extended his profile far beyond MMA, even though Mayweather won by stoppage.
His UFC career later included major bouts with Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, alongside long periods away from competition.
Where are Federer and McGregor now?
Their current positions are quite different.
Federer’s competitive career is over. By September 2026, he was a retired player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. His public work has continued through tennis-related projects, appearances and philanthropy, but there is no suggestion of a return to professional competition.
McGregor, by contrast, returned to the UFC in July 2026 after an absence of more than five years. His rematch with Max Holloway at UFC 329 ended after 1 minute and 9 seconds of the first round when a right-knee injury forced the stoppage.
He subsequently underwent surgery and said that he intended to return to martial-arts training and compete again. That remains an intention rather than a confirmed future booking.
This difference gives the two men very different forms of current relevance. Federer is now being assessed through the completed record of his career, while McGregor’s competitive story remains open.
Are Roger Federer and Conor McGregor friends?
There is no public confirmation that Roger Federer and Conor McGregor have a close friendship.
Their names are linked chiefly because Federer referred indirectly to McGregor in 2018 and because both men later occupied the top position in Forbes’ annual athlete-earnings ranking in consecutive years.
That is a narrower connection than some online comparisons imply, but it is also the more interesting one. Federer and McGregor became global sports figures through very different disciplines, public styles and career patterns, yet each reached the point where his name carried commercial weight far beyond competition.
By September 2026, Federer had moved fully into retirement and Hall of Fame recognition. McGregor, following his return and knee surgery, was still publicly describing another comeback as his goal. Their careers no longer run on parallel tracks, but the small number of verified intersections between them helps explain why the two names continue to appear together.
