(“I’m only making HOW MUCH for this?!” Photo via Getty.)
MMAManifesto released the complete list of disclosed salaries for UFC 171 earlier today, and the biggest takeaway seems to be that former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard continues to make six times more money to show with a 3-2 octagon record than current welterweight champion Johny Hendricks does with an 11-2 record. But hey, at least his decision win over Jake Shields last weekend was a goddamn barnburner, amiright?
Of course, being that the Texas Boxing and Wrestling Authority has decided against releasing the actual salary figures for UFC 171 (a choice typically left up to the discretion of the presiding athletic commission), the numbers you will see after the jump are more an estimate based on the fighters past earnings more than anything else. These figures are also likely to change when the TBWA informs us that a handful of these fighters were high as shit at UFC 171 three months from now.
Hector Lombard: $300,000
Johny Hendricks: $150,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Robbie Lawler: $133,000 ($83,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Tyron Woodley: $104,000 ($52,000 to show, $52,000 win bonus)
Ovince St. Preux: $96,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
Dennis Bermudez: $78,000 ($14,000 to show, $14,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
Jake Shields: $75,000
Diego Sanchez: $60,000
Carlos Condit: $55,000
Rick Story: $27,000
Frank Trevino: $17,600 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus, $1,600 from Forte for missing weight)
Myles Jury: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Kelvin Gastelum: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Jessica Andrade: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Alex Garcia: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Justin Scoggins: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Sean Strickland: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Robert Whiteford: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Daniel Pineda: $15,000
Will Campuzano: $10,000
Nikita Krylov: $8,000
Raquel Pennington: $8,000
Jimy Hettes: $8,000
Sean Spencer: $8,000
Robert McDaniel: $8,000
Renee Forte: $6,400 ($8,000 to show, $1,600 to Trevino for missing weight)
Overpaid: Given the current pay-scale of today’s top MMA fighters, it would be hard to argue that Hector Lombard is *not* the most overpaid fighter in the UFC, and possibly all of MMA. He seems to have found his groove at welterweight, sure, and made a statement in his own right by coasting to victory over a former (Strikeforce) champion in Jake Shields last weekend. But for a guy who made $700,000 for his first underwhelming fight in the UFC and continues to make 300K per fight to date, Lombard has yet to truly put in three decent rounds of fighting. Consecutively, at least.
Underpaid: I could just take the easy route here and say “everyone below Diego Sanchez,” but I’m going to focus on one guy in particular: Dennis Bermudez. The former is currently riding a six-fight win streak over solid competition, and hasn’t dropped a fight since coming up short in the TUF 14 Finale, but he’s still making just a 14K/14K split? Then again, maybe that’s the point of these new “Performance Bonuses” — you pay each guy so little that they have no option but to fight like their life is on the line. Because it is. Touche, UFC. Touche.
Oh yeah, and Carlos Condit at $55,000 to show seems downright criminal considering how exciting and consistent a fighter he is (his past few losses aside), but we’d like to imagine that the former WEC champ is really making his bank in undisclosed, locker room bonuses and dose sweet HEADRUSH monies. We have to believe that to get out of bed each morning and continue writing about this crazy, crazy sport, really.
One final thing of note: Does anyone find it odd that Dana White raked Alistair Overeem over the coals for his tactical dismantling of Frank Mir, yet when Lombard turns on autopilot for two rounds, he praises him? A little consistency is all we’re asking for, Dearest Overlord of MMA Media.