Marlon Vera was the big earner at last night’s UFC San Diego.
The UFC was in California last night, a state that does not prohibit the public release of fighter purses (unlike Nevada and a few others). Because of this we are offered a rare glimpse at fighter salaries for UFC San Diego.
The event saw Marlon Vera signal himself as a threat in the bantamweight division with a stunning headkick KO of former champion Dominick Cruz. As you’d expect, the headliners were the main earners in this one; taking home six figures each.
However, not everyone came home with a ton of cash, a couple of fighters earned between $10,000 and $30,000. When you factor in taxes, manager fees, coaching and travel those fighters would be lucky to have broken even with their appearance in the Octagon.
In total the UFC spent $1,619,000 on the 26 fighters who fought last night. And over 25 percent of that went to the two men in the main event.
Below is the complete list of salaries that were disclosed to the California State Athletic Commission (per MMA Fighting). These figures do not include outfitting sponsorships via UFC apparel partner Venom.
Marlon Vera: $300,000 ($150,000 to show/$150,000 to win)
Dominick Cruz: $175,000
Nate Landwehr: $60,000 ($30,000 to show/$30,000 to win)
David Onama: $24,000
Yazmin Jauregui: $50,000 ($25,000 to show/$25,000 to win)
Iasmin Lucindo: $12,000
Azamat Murzakanov: $24,000 ($12,000 to show/$12,000 to win)
Devin Clark: $75,000
Priscila Cachoeira: $80,000 ($40,000 to show/$40,000 to win)
Ariane Lipski: $40,000
Gerald Meerschaert: $146,000 ($73,000 to show/$73,000 to win)
Bruno Silva: $40,000
Angela Hill: $190,000 ($95,000 to show/$95,000 to win)
Lupita Godinez: $45,000
Martin Buday: $24,000 ($12,000 to show/$12,000 to win)
Lukasz Brzeski: $10,000
Nina Nunes: $80,000 ($40,000 to show/$40,000 to win)
Cynthia Calvillo: $70,000
Gabriel Benitez: $100,000 ($50,000 to show/$50,000 to win)
Charlie Ontiveros: $12,000
Tyson Nam: $50,000 ($25,000 to show/$25,000 to win)
Ode Osbourne: $28,000
Josh Quinlan: $20,000 ($10,000 to show/$10,000 to win)
Jason Witt: $23,000
Youssef Zalal: $24,000
Da’Mon Blackshear: $12,000
In addition to these paydays, the UFC handed out four $50,000 bonuses. Those went to Vera and Nam for Performance of the Night and Landwehr and Onama for Fight of the Night.