It pays to be Conor McGregor. The Irish featherweight sensation scored a significant payday at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 59 event, leading the night’s reported payroll with a $170,000 purse for his main event win over Dennis Siver, according to information released to MMAFighting.com by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission.
McGregor fell short of his two-minute prediction, but effortlessly overcome Siver all the same, picking the veteran apart with creative movement and crisp outside striking before securing his UFC title shot against champion Jose Aldo with a second-round TKO finish. Siver earned $39,000 in the losing effort.
Apart from McGregor, only one other fighter on the card hit the six-figure mark in salary earnings. That man was Donald Cerrone, who for the second time in three weeks took home a major chunk of change, pocketing $146,000 for his short-notice and somewhat controversial win over former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson ($48,000).
UFC Fight Night 59 took place Jan. 18, 2015 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Both McGregor and Lorenz Larkin took home additional $50,000 fight night bonuses for their work, as did UFC Fight Pass fighters Sean O’Connell and Matt Van Buren.
As always, the entire UFC Fight Night 59 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 (FOX Sports 1)
Conor McGregor ($85,000 + $85,000 = $170,000) def. Dennis Siver ($39,000)
Donald Cerrone ($73,000 + $73,000 = $146,000) def. Benson Henderson ($48,000)
Uriah Hall ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) def. Ron Stallings ($10,000)
Gleison Tibau ($45,000 + $45,000 = $90,000) def. Norman Parke ($20,000)
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)
Cathal Pendred ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Sean Spencer ($14,000)
Lorenz Larkin ($28,000 + $28,000 = $56,000) def. John Howard ($21,000)
Chris Wade ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Zhang Lipeng ($15,000)
Patrick Holohan ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Shane Howell ($8,000)
Johnny Case ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Frankie Perez ($8,000)
Charles Rosa ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Sean Soriano ($8,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Sean O’Connell ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Matt Van Buren ($10,000)
Joby Sanchez ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Tateki Matsuda ($8,000)