Combat sports are more popular than ever, but MMA and professional wrestling appear to have surged past boxing as the real moneymakers.

Mike Ozanian and Justin Teitelbaum of Forbes released the 2024 list of the most valuable combat sports promotions on Thursday, and the UFC stood head and shoulders above the rest with a value of $11.3 billion. WWE placed second at $6.8 billion, followed by AEW at $2 billion.

The UFC is coming off its banner UFC 300 pay-per-view this Saturday, which brought in a $16.5 million gate for the third-highest-grossing event in company history.

The $11.3 billion valuation shows the monumental growth the UFC has seen over the past two decades, as Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta purchased the promotion for just $2 million in 2001. The Fertitta brothers sold the company to Endeavor for $4 billion in 2016, marking an annual return of 72 percent for each year the Fertittas were in ownership.

It was less than a year ago that the UFC and WWE merged as one IPO known as TKO Holdings in September 2023. The two companies each had media rights revenue of over $800 million, which Ozanian and Teitelbaum noted is "more than triple the total revenue of all the other promotions on the list."

Matchroom Boxing was the highest-valued boxing promotion at $850 million. The three other boxing promotions in the top 10 were Top Rank Boxing ($630 million), Premier Boxing Championship ($600 million) and Golden Boy Promotions ($450 million).

Despite the UFC blowing those promotions away in revenue, boxers don't face the same discrepancy over fighter pay. No MMA fighters appeared on Forbes' 2023 list of highest-paid athletes while boxing stars Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua made it.

However, a settlement reached last month is set to require the UFC to pay $335 million to former fighters who accused the promotion of restricting them from maximizing their earnings. Many are hoping that will be a step that helps reduce the issue of fighter pay.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode below.