If you check statistics on the earnings of the mixed martial arts fighters for, say, 2020, you will find the average number of about $148,000 annually. Top-paid athletes have much more impressive figures of millions of dollars. This article will reveal the difference between amateur, professional, and top-ranked martial artists and find out what makes an impact on the amounts they have annually. We will review the UFC fighters as the most paid and most famous ones but will also consider the other leagues, popular among fans and sports bettors, according to World BookMakers 2021.
How are UFC fighters getting paid?
Unlike in many other sports, a guaranteed contract is not a typical thing for the UFC. There is no monthly or weekly salary, too: a fighter is paid for a performance, and the total amount of payout depends on how the fight goes. If an athlete is famous enough to attract interest towards his social networks and personal brand in general, they can also earn from partnerships with large commercial companies. Let’s see in detail how each method works.
Fights base pay
Every performing fighter earns a base pay — a fixed amount that UFC pays them if they make weight and fight. There are no specific rates: each fighter signs a personal contract and can claim any amount, so this is a matter of agreement. Certainly, the better and more famous a fighter is, the higher salary he can negotiate.
The base salary can consist of two parts: the actual base pay and the win bonus in a successful outcome. However, this winning bonus is usually applied to fighters whose base pay does not overcome a certain level. For instance, a fighter may get $20,000 as base pay and the other $20,000 for winning a fight. However, if a base salary is about $300,000 per fight, it does not usually imply having a win bonus.
UFC Night Bonuses
Four fighters in one night are eligible for two performance bonuses (not to confuse with a win bonus). The nominations for the rewards are the Fight of the Night and the Performance of the night. Fight of the Night is an award of $50,000 for two fighters who have managed to lead the most exciting fight. Performance of the Night is also $50,000. The UFC brass decides who is eligible for the bonuses. It is possible that one person gets both rewards and gets $100,000.
Backroom bonuses
The backroom bonuses are the extra rewards that UFC does not report anywhere; the amounts are not in the contracts and stay unknown to the public. According to some rumors and speculations, the payments start from $10,000 and are sent to MMA fighters within a week or two after a fight.
PPV Points bonuses
Top fighters who have a huge fan base and can provide the UFC with a fight gathering many views gain Pay-Per-View points. The most significant combat events are broadcasted only on the paid platforms, so the more viewers pay to watch a fight, the more bonus from this PPV event a fighter gets. There are 12 paid events in the UFC annually, and a stream fee is about $65-$70. A fighter earns a certain percentage of the PPV money or a fixed amount per view. For instance, several years ago, the contract details of Eddi Alvarez appeared on the Internet; according to them, UFC paid Alvarez $1 for PPV buys 0-300,000, $1,50 for PPV buys 300,000-750,000 and $2 for the buys over 750,000. One of the most viewed Alvarez’s fights was against McGregor, and it gained 1,300,000 PPV buys so that you can imagine his PPV bonus in this case.
The information about contracts is not usually published, but experts believe the numbers are approximately like these.
Fines
If a UFC fighter does not manage to make weight or appear on the Octagon, they may be fined, too — the amounts charged are also determined in the contract. In addition, there can be extra fines applied to MMA fighters in case they misbehave during a fight. For instance, Khabib Nurmagomedov was once fined $500,000 for a public brawl with his opponent McGregor.
Sponsorships
For the past six years, UFc has had Reebok as their exclusive apparel sponsor. It means that every UFC fighter has to wear Reebok clothes during their bouts, and Reebok rewards them with sponsorship pay. The figures were transparent: a fighter with one-five bouts gains $2,500 per fight, if a fighter appears in five-ten bouts, they earn $5,000 for each, eleven-fifteen fights bring $10,000 for each, sixteen-twenty fights cost $15,000 per fight, and more than 21 bouts bring a combatant $20,000 per fight. If a UFC member is fighting for their title, they earn $30,000 from the Reebok sponsorship, and if they gain a champion title, the total payout is $40,000.
In April 2021, the Reebok sponsorship came to an end, and the new one with Veenum started. Reebok will now be a sponsor of footwear for the UFC fighters, and the details of their new sponsorship are not revealed yet. However, it is already clear that Veenum apparel sponsorship is more profitable for fighters: they will pay $42,000 to champions and $32,000 for the title challengers. Fighters with sixteen bouts or more will have a $1,000 increase, and the others will have an extra $500 for each fight.
Endorsement deals
While UFC fighters can not have any endorsement deals inside the ring because of the exclusive apparel and footwear contracts UFC signs with Reebok and Veenum, they are quite free in terms of the deals they have outside of the Octagon. The endorsement deals are private between a company and a fighter and do not have anything to do with the UFC; the actual numbers are hidden from the wide public, but it is still possible to reveal them: for instance, Connor McGregor takes $125,000 for one advertising post in his Instagram. The endorsement deals do not depend on how successful the fighter is and how many bouts he makes: sometimes, an average fighter can be a popular media personality. For instance, Page VanZant confessed she earned only $46,000 per fight and a win bonus of the same amount, while her Instagram with almost 3,000,000 followers brings a way more considerable income.
How much are average UFC fighters paid?
Although the salary of the average UFC fighter is usually determined as more than $100,000, the actual earnings the UFC fighters get paid turn out to be significantly less. When someone counts the average salary info, they consider all salaries’ range, including the earnings of fighters making millions of dollars. This makes the median rate more, while in fact, there is quite a huge salary gap between top and average fighters.
According to the MMA Manifesto, the lowest salary in the UFC can be about $9,500 for a fight. Cole Williams, the lowest-earning fighter of the 2020 season, earned this amount in a fight against Jason Witt. Thus, if we do not know the most notable and highly-paid athletes in the statistics, we will see an average of about $50,000. In the table below, you can see the earnings UFC MMA fighters make annually; the graphics are based on the latest information of 2020.
The table does not consider any side incomes like the endorsement deals and includes the expenses. To get more realistic figures, you have to deduct such obligatory investments as training camps, trainer’s salaries, and travel expenses.
Top 10 highest paid UFC fighters
If you compare the average salary we mentioned in the previous paragraph to the top earner’s incomes, the pay gap becomes more evident. The gain is indicated for a year, and it does not include advertising contracts and hidden extra bonuses.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov — $6,090,000
- Conor McGregor — $3,060,000
- Junior dos Santos — $1,560,000
- Israel Adesanya — $1,230,000
- Justin Gaethje — $920,000
- Jose Aldo — $900,000
- Deiveson Figueiredo — $875,000
- Anthony Pettis — $855,000
- Alistair Overeem — $830,000
- Stipe Miocic — $790,000
How much money do MMA fighters outside of the UFC make?
The UFC is the oldest, the most famous, and the wealthiest MMA league; being in the UFC is considered a career top for a fighter. However, there are still other MMA organizations, so if we talk about MMA fighters in general, we can also mention such big leagues as Bellator and ONE FC.
The list of Bellator 228 earnings is currently published, so it is possible to have an idea of a base pay offered to Bellator fighters. Their main card includes the following rates:
You can see a complete list of the Bellator 228 salaries below. As always, these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as certain sponsorship incomes, discretionary bonuses, and pay-per-view income is not publicly disclosed.
- Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 as a base pay; no win bonus
- Patricio Freire: $200,000 as a base pay; no win bonus
- Juan Archuleta: $75,000
- Daniel Weichel: $40,000 and $40,000 win bonus
The figures include only the base pay; top Bellator fighters can significantly make endorsement and sponsorship deals. Unlike UFC fighters who are not allowed to have in-ring sponsors besides Reebok and Veenum, Bellator does not limit side contracts.
If we refer to the earnings of the Asian fighters who are signed with the ONE FC, we will find out that the income details are much more closed than American athletes. There are some pieces of inside information from several fighters; for instance, Ben Askren announced having from $50,000 per night and the amount match as a win bonus. There is also a ONE Warrior bonus of $50,000, which is given to the one most impressive fighter who shows excessive skills, warrior spirit, and exciting action. Victor Cui, the CEO of ONE FC, announced that several MMA fighters of the club could be eligible to claim the bonus. However, if nobody manages to impress Victor enough, the prize will stay unclaimed.