UFC 197 went down last night (Sat., April 23, 2016) inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and now it’s time to see who went home with the biggest slice of the Reebok sponsorship pie.
Jon Jones was one of the biggest financial winners of the night, as he took home a $30,000 check after he defeated Ovince Saint Preux via unanimous decision in the main event of the evening (see it again here).
As for “OSP,” while he didn’t walk away with the interim Light Heavyweight title, he does get to cash in on an extra $30,000 sponsorship check from Reebok following his defeat at the hands of “Bones.”
However, the biggest winner of the night was Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, as he walked away with a hefty $40,000 check from the sports apparel giant — the standard fee for all champions — following his first-round knockout over Henry Cejudo.
Check out the rest of the payouts via MMA Junkie:
Jon Jones: $30,000 def. Ovince Saint Preux: $30,000
Demetrious Johnson: $40,000 def. Henry Cejudo: $30,000
Edson Barboza: $10,000 def. Anthony Pettis: $10,000
Robert Whittaker: $5,000 def. Rafael Natal: $10,000
Yair Rodriguez: $2,500 def. Andre Fili: $5,000
Sergio Pettis: $5,000 def. Chris Kelades: $2,500
Danny Roberts: $2,500 def. Dominique Steele: $2,500
Carla Esparza: $2,500 def. Juliana Lima: $2,500
James Vick: $2,500 def. Glaico Franca: $2,500
Walt Harris: $2,500 def. Cody East: $2,500
Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $2,500 def. Clint Hester: $5,000
Kevin Lee: $5,000 def. Efrain Escudero: $10,000TOTAL: $222,500
So, how are payouts determined?
According to the revamped payout structure (see it), the more fights you have combined with UFC and the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Strikeforce promotions, the more coin you have for your combat sports piggy bank.
And the less fights you have under the ZUFFA banner… well, the less you get. If you have a problem with the structure, take it up with UFC, not Reebok.
According to the report, fighters will also receive royalty and payments up to 20-30 percent of any UFC-related merchandise sold that bears his or her likeness. That’s a great way for the Internet “morons” to help the cause.