The stars all came up big on Saturday night, as UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and former WEC standout Urijah Faber each pulled in six-figure paydays from their respective performances at UFC 175, according to information released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Fighting for the first time since defeating Anderson Silva in back-to-back contests, Weidman successfully defended his UFC middleweight belt for the second time in the night’s main event, fending off a late-charging Lyoto Machida to preserve a gutty and hard fought unanimous decision victory. Weidman, who restructured his UFC contract after the first Silva win, pocketed $450,000 for his performance, while Machida earned $200,000 in the losing effort.
Rousey, of course, needed far less time to complete the fourth defense of her UFC title, as the superstar judoka blew the doors off Alexis Davis to secure a remarkably violent 16-second win in the night’s co-main event. Rousey took home $120,000 for her quick night of work, while Davis earned $24,000 and a lifetime of infamy on Rousey’s highlight reel.
Topping the preliminary card was former WEC champion Faber, who also pocketed $120,000 for his impressive third-round submission victory over Alex Caceres ($19,000).
UFC 175 took place July 5, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Noticeably absent from the commission’s salary list were heavyweights Stefan Struve and Matt Mitrione, who saw their pay-per-view bout cancelled at the last minute after Struve briefly lost consciousness backstage. UFC President Dana White told reporters following the event that the UFC would pay both Struve and Mitrione their show and win money despite the bout cancellation, which would total out to paydays of $80,000 and $60,000 respectively.
As always, the entire UFC 175 payroll can be seen below, although these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as sponsorship money and discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed. Additionally, Weidman, Machida, Rousey and Rob Font each earned $50,000 post-fight bonuses for their work.
Main card (Pay-per-view)
Chris Weidman ($225,000 + $225,000 = $450,000) def. Lyoto Machida ($200,000)
Ronda Rousey ($60,000 + $60,000 = $120,000) def. Alexis Davis ($24,000)
Uriah Hall ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Thiago Santos ($10,000)
Russell Doane ($9,000 + $9,000 = $18,000) def. Marcus Brimage ($10,000)
Preliminary card (FOX Sports 1)
Urijah Faber ($60,000 + $60,000 = $120,000) def. Alex Caceres ($19,000)
Kenny Robertson ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) def. Ildemar Alcantara ($16,000)
Bruno Santos ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Chris Camozzi ($23,000)
Rob Font ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. George Roop ($20,000)
Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass)
Luke Zachrich ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Guilherme Vasconcelos ($8,000)
Kevin Casey ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Bubba Bush ($8,000)