UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones handily led the disclosed payroll for UFC 182, earning $500,000 for his contentious unanimous decision victory over Daniel Cormier in the main event of Saturday night’s pay-per-view, according to figures released by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Despite all the bad blood leading into the fight, Jones handled business just like he always does, outpacing Cormier and largely beating the Olympic wrestler at his own game en route to securing the eighth consecutive title defense of Jones’ five-year reign atop the 205-pound division. Cormier earned $90,000 in defeat, which marked the first time the 35-year-old fell short in his mixed martial arts career.
Aside from Jones, only two other fighters on the card cleared six-figure purses for their work.
Lightweight contender Donald Cerrone may not have gotten a bonus for his co-main event win over Myles Jury, but “Cowboy” still came away $140,000 richer, according to NAC figures. Likewise, welterweight contender Hector Lombard pocketed $106,000 for his measured decision win over the returning Josh Burkman.
UFC 182 took place Jan. 3, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Both Jones and Cormier took home additional $50,000 fight night bonuses for their work, as did undercard fighters Paul Felder and Shawn Jordan.
As always, the entire UFC 182 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.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Jon Jones ($500,000 + no win bonus = $500,000) def. Daniel Cormier ($90,000)
Donald Cerrone ($70,000 + $70,000 = $140,000) def. Myles Jury ($16,000)
Brad Tavares ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Nate Marquardt ($49,000)
Kyoji Horiguchi ($20,000 + $20,000 = $40,000) def. Louis Gaudinot ($10,000)
Hector Lombard ($53,000 + $53,000 = $106,000) def. Josh Burkman ($45,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Paul Felder ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Danny Castillo ($36,000)
Cody Garbrandt ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Marcus Brimage ($12,000)
Shawn Jordan ($22,000 + $22,000 = $44,000) def. Jared Cannonier ($8,000)
Evan Dunham ($27,000 + $27,000 = $54,000) def. Rodrigo Damm ($12,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Omari Akhmedov ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Mats Nilsson ($8,000)
Marion Reneau ($8,000 + $8,000 + $1,600 = $17,600)* def. Alexis Dufresne ($6,400)*
*Dufresne forfeited 20-percent of her purse to Reneau after missing weight