People come down on me for bagging on Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) every other post but man, they make it so fucking easy.
Take, for example, the UFC Ft. Lauderdale payouts and salaries for those combatants who competed last Sat. night (April 27, 2019) in Sunrise, Florida. That’s where Greg Hardy made $150,000 for dry cleaning Dmitrii Smoliakov, in what amounts to the former NFL star’s second bout inside the Octagon.
That’s just $30k more than Jim Miller, who has a staggering 32 UFC fights to his credit.
I guess the promotion is rewarding “The Prince of War” for all those pre-fight headlines, none of which appeared to say anything positive, but I guess that “no such thing as bad publicity” maxim still rings true for Dana White and Co.
Here’s the rest of the UFC Ft. Lauderdale payouts (via MMA Fighting):
Main Card (ESPN+)
Jack Hermansson ($41,000 + $41,000 = $82,000) def. Ronaldo Souza ($210,000)
Greg Hardy ($75,000 + $75,000 = $150,000) def. Dmitrii Smoliakov ($10,000)
Mike Perry ($55,000 + $55,000 = $110,000) def. Alex Oliveira ($64,000)
Glover Teixeira ($105,000 + $105,000 = $210,000) def. Ion Cutelaba ($22,000)
Cory Sandhagen ($33,000 + $33,000 = $66,000) def. John Lineker ($49,000)
Roosevelt Roberts ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Thomas Gifford ($10,000)
Preliminary Card (ESPN)
Takashi Sato ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Ben Saunders ($35,000)
Augusto Sakai ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Andrei Arlovski ($300,000)
Carla Esparza ($45,000 + $45,000 = $90,000) def. Virna Jandiroba ($12,000)
Gilbert Burns ($44,000 + $44,000 = $88,000) def. Mike Davis ($12,000)
Preliminary Card (ESPN 2)
Jim Miller ($90,000 + $90,000 = $180,000) def. Jason Gonzalez ($12,000)
Angela Hill ($24,000 + $24,000 = $48,000) def. Jodie Esquibel ($10,000)
Dhiego Lima ($17,000 + $17,000 = $34,000) def. Court McGee ($48,000)
The total disclosed payroll for UFC Ft. Lauderdale was $1,942,000.
Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, Reebok sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.
For example, the promotion often hands out extra cash for “Fight of the Night” and “Performance of the Night” bonuses for exemplary performances. To check out those figures for UFC Ft. Lauderdale click here.
For complete UFC Ft. Lauderdale results and blow-by-blow coverage click here.