Esther Lin – MMA Fighting
The champion and interim champion made a lot of Reebok bucks at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia. The rest of the card were lucky if they hit five grand.
The cash continues to flow to good boys and girls that behave and comply with UFC promotional guidelines. That’s right, it’s time to break down the cash paid out to fighters under the UFC’s Reebok uniform deal, now officially known by the unsexy label of UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay.
UFC 243 went down from Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia and featured a fight between UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker and interim middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. As both men were technically champs, both got the top tier champ pay: $40,000 a piece. They took home $80,000 of the $174,000 handed out at this event.
After those two the thinness of the card starts to show: no one else made money above the $10,000 tier, which covers fighters who have competed 11-15 times under UFC organizations. Three men: Dan Hooker, Al Iaquinta, and Jake Matthews made that moolah.
14 fighters fell into the first two tiers, making $3500 to $4000 for having five fights or less with the organization. Pretty sad considering how much fighters used to be able to swing for sponsor space on their clothing for a major UFC pay-per-view.
Here’s the full breakdown (via MMA Junkie):
Israel Adesanya: $40,000
def. Robert Whittaker: $40,000
Dan Hooker: $10,000
def. Al Iaquinta: $10,000
Serghei Spivac: $3,500
def. Tai Tuivasa: $5,000
Dhiego Lima: $5,000
def. Luke Jumeau: $4,000
Yorgan De Castro: $3,500
def. Justin Tafa: $3,500
Jake Matthews: $10,000
def. Rostem Akman: $3,500
Callan Potter: $3,500
def. Maki Pitolo: $3,500
Brad Riddell: $3,500
def. Jamie Mullarkey: $3,500
Megan Anderson: $4,000
def. Zarah Fairn: $3,500
Ji Yeon Kim: $4,000
def. Nadia Kassem: $3,500
Khalid Taha: $3,500
def. Bruno Silva: $3,500
And here’s the specifics on how it works: the more fights you’ve been fighting for the UFC (or their former organizations) for, the more money you get.
1-3 bouts: $3,500 per fight
4-5 bouts: $4,000 per fight
6-10 bouts: $5,000 per fight
11-15 bouts: $10,000 per fight
16-20 bouts: $15,000 per fight
21 bouts+: $20,000 per fight
Champs: $40,000 per fight
Challengers: $30,000 per fight
Now here’s the final tally for how much has been distributed through the entire UFC / Reebok deal.
2019: $5,855,500 (so far)
2018: $6,901,000
2017: $6,295,000
2016: $7,138,000
2015: $3,185,000
Total: $28,297,500
The UFC / Reebok deal is set to last until 2021.