(Erick Silva trots out everyone’s favorite cat meme prior to his main event scrap with Matt Brown. Photo via Getty)
Last weekend’s Fight Night 40 card “brought the ruckus,” to put it in scientific terms. With 7 (T)KO finishes, 8 underdog victories, and a main event brawl for the ages, the event continued to carry the momentum provided by UFC 172 and ease the worries of MMA fans who might have grown complacent with the UFC’s somewhat underwhelming product in 2014 thus far.
The figures for Fight Night 40, however, are what we’ve come to expect of a Fight Night event; only five guys cleared more than $40,000 (in disclosed salary, at least), and three poor bastards walked away with less than 10k for their troubles. I guess my cries for a $20,000 minimum payout per fight are still going unheard, despite my neighbors incessant noise complaints and threats to cut out my tongue if I don’t stop shouting off my porch.
The full list of salaries, along with our thoughtless and borderline incomprehensible analysis, is after the jump.
Matt Brown: $182,000 (includes $41,000 win bonus, $50,000 FOTN bonus, and $50,000 POTN bonus) def. Erick Silva: $72,000 (includes $50,000 FOTN bonus)
Costas Philippou: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Lorenz Larkin: $28,000
Daron Cruickshank: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Erik Koch: $18,000
Neil Magny: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Tim Means: $10,000
Soa Palelei: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Ruan Potts: $10,000
Chris Cariaso: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus) def. Louis Smolka: $10,000
Ed Herman: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Rafael Natal: $26,000
Kyoji Horoguchi: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Darrel Montague: $8,000
Zak Cummings: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Yan Cabral: $10,000
Johnny Eduardo: $66,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 POTN bonus) def. Eddie Wineland: $21,000
Nik Lentz: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus) def. Manvel Gamburyan: $25,000
Justin Salas: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Ben Wall: $8,000
Albert Tumenov: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Lapsley: $8,000
Overpaid: I’m not saying he’s overpaid, I’m just surprised that Ed Herman is making 40k to show at 2-2 1 NC in his past 5 fights. Then again, the man’s been fighting in the UFC since 2006 and was sacrificed to Ronaldo Souza at the final Strikeforce event, so it’d be hard to say he hasn’t earned his payrate.
Underpaid: Daron Cruickshank has quickly become one of the most reliable fighters in the UFC from an excitement perspective, yet he’s gone almost completely uncompensated for it. He’s scored three victories via brutal head kicks and just smoked former #1 contender Erik Koch in the first round, yet a quick gander over his Wiki page reveals not one performance bonus to be found. At just $12,000 to show, let’s pray that “The Detroit Superstar” is earning some sweet locker room bonuses to justify that abysmal payday. Then again, considering a house costs about as much as Casio wrist watch in his hometown, maybe he make that $24,000 stretch a long way.
Related: Johnny Eduardo was suspended 30 days for “unsportsmanlike conduct” following his upset victory over Eddie Wineland, which makes one wonder what the hell a 30 day suspension is even suppose to accomplish in a sport where fighters regularly go 4 months between fights.