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If it hadn’t been for her FOTN bonus, Joanna Jedrzejczyk would have walked away with less money than Neil Magny and Alex Oliveira.
While UFC 248 had the feel of a major PPV event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, it didn’t come with a notably high salary payout. Outside of the main event, only five fighters broke $100,000 in purse money—with Weili Zhang taking home $200,000 for her victory over Joanna Jedrzjeczyk. As the former queen of 115 lbs, Joanna herself earned $106,000 to show—a number that was eclipsed by Neil Magny, Alex Oliveira, and Beneil Dariush who all got their win bonus as well.
Here’s a look at the complete UFC 246 salary figures, as provided to Bloody Elbow by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
NOTE: These numbers do not include any potential taxes, fines, or percentages paid to managers, coaches. Neither do they include any potential PPV points, locker room bonuses, or sponsorship payouts.* These are just the raw numbers as released by the NSAC.
ISRAEL ADESANYA: $500,000 (no win bonus)
YOEL ROMERO: $350,000
WEILI ZHANG: $200,000 ($100k to show/win) + $50,000 FOTN bonus
JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK: $106,000 + $50,000 FOTN bonus
BENEIL DARIUSH: $140,000 ($70k to show/win) + $50,000 POTN bonus
DRAKKAR KLOSE: $40,000
NEIL MAGNY: $152,000 ($76k to show/win)
JINGLIANG LI: $64,000
ALEX OLIVEIRA: $128,000 ($64k to show/win)
MAX GRIFFIN: $35,000
SEAN O’MALLEY: $70,000 ($35k to show/win) + $50,000 POTN bonus
JOSE QUINONEZ: $33,000
MARK MADSEN: $66,000 ($33k to show/win)
AUSTIN HUBBARD: $12,000
RODOLFO VIEIRA: $28,000 ($14k to show/win)
SAPARBEG SAFAROV: $22,000
GERALD MEERSCHAERT: $60,000 ($30k to show/win)
DERON WINN: $12,000
GIGA CHIKADZE: $24,000 ($12k to show/win)
JAMALL EMMERS: $10,000
BATGEREL DANAA: $20,000 ($10k to show/win)
GUIDO CANNETTI: $14,000
All of which makes for a reported salary payout of $2,286,000. And with a reported gate of $2,742,906.20, it looks like the UFC covered their fighter costs on just ticket sales alone.
*Assuming the UFC’s Reebok pay tiers haven’t changed: Batgerel, Chikadze, Emmers, Winn, Vieira, Madsen, Hubbard, & O’Malley all earned the lowest Reebok pay tier of $3,500. Cannetti, Meerschaert, Safarov, Quinonez, Griffin, & Klose earned $5,000 at tier 2. Jingliang earned $10,000 at tier 3. Dariush & Oliveira earned $15,000. Magny took home $20,000. Romero and Jedrzejczyk got $30,000 as title challengers. And Zhang and Adesanya made $40,000 as champions.