Ilia Topuria & Conor McGregor | UFC
How Popular Are UFC Fighters and Boxers on Social Media Compared to Other Athletes?
In the world of sports, popularity isn’t just measured in titles and trophies—it’s measured in followers. And when it comes to Instagram, the difference between sports is staggering.
Let’s take a look at the current top athletes by Instagram follower count:
🌍 Top Athletes by Instagram Followers
1. ⚽️ Cristiano Ronaldo (Football) — 653M
Will Palmer/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images
2. ⚽️ Lionel Messi (Football) — 505M
Photo | Getty Images
3. 🏏 Virat Kohli (Cricket) — 271M
Photo | Getty Images
4. ⚽️ Neymar (Football) — 229M
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
5. 🏀 LeBron James (Basketball) — 159M
Photo | Fox Sports
6. ⚽️ Kylian Mbappe — 123M
Adrian Dennis / AFP
7. ⚽️ David Beckham — 88.1M
Photo | Getty Images
8. ⚽️ Ronaldinho — 77.1M
Photo | Getty Images
9. ⚽️ Karim Benzema — 75.8M
Photo | Getty Images
10. ⚽️ Marcelo — 68.7M
Photo | Getty Images
11. ⚽️ Sergio Ramos — 65.8M
Photo | Getty Images
12. ⚽️ Mohamed Salah — 64.8M
Photo | Getty Images
13. ⚽️ Zlatan Ibrahimović — 63.2M
Photo | Getty Images
14. ⚽️ Paul Pogba — 62.9M
Photo | Getty Images
15. 🏀 Stephen Curry — 58.1M
Elsa/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
16. ⚽️ Paulo Dybala — 57.2M
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
17. ⚽️ Vinícius Jr. — 53M
Photo | Getty Images
18. ⚽️ Gareth Bale — 52.9M
Photo | Getty Images
19. ⚽️ James Rodríguez — 52.5M
Photo | ESPN
20. 🏏 Sachin Tendulkar — 50.6M
Aijaz Rahi / AP
21. 🏏 MS Dhoni — 49.7M
MS Dhoni | PTI Read
22. ⚽️ Luis Suárez — 48.6M
Photo | Getty Images
23. 🤼♂️ Conor McGregor (MMA) — 46.6M
Conor McGregor | Instagram
24. ⚽️ Zinedine Zidane — 43.9M
Photo | PA Sport
25. 🏏 Rohit Sharma — 43.6M
Photo | Getty Images
🧠 Conclusions
Football (soccer) completely dominates the landscape. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are in a galactic league of their own, each with over half a billion followers. Even retired legends like Beckham and Ronaldinho still outpace current stars in other sports.
Outside of football, the most-followed athlete is Indian cricket icon Virat Kohli with a massive 271M.
In the world of MMA, the first fighter to appear on the list is Conor McGregor, sitting at #23 with 46.6M followers—making him the most popular combat sports athlete online. Khabib Nurmagomedov follows close behind (just outside the top 25 at #30).
As for boxing? No one from the sweet science cracked the top 35.
When it comes to social media reach, MMA and boxing still have a long way to go to catch up to global giants like football and cricket. But stars like McGregor have proven that a strong personal brand can push even niche sports into the mainstream spotlight.
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