Main event winner Urijah Faber earned $110,000 for his win over Scott Jorgensen, the largest disclosed payoff from Saturday’s Ultimate Fighter 17 finals at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Nevada is one of the states that, by law, discloses all contracted salaries for fighters. The figures are base numbers, which don’t include bonuses, some of which are announced and others which are not.
Faber’s earnings constituted 22 percent of the total purses of $508,500 for all 24 fighters. The figure comes from $55,000 in base pay and another $55,000 in his win bonus. Jorgensen, who lost in the main event, received $23,500 as his base pay.
Interestingly, the second-biggest money earner, not including bonuses, was Cole Miller, who fought on the Facebook prelims. Miller received $42,000 based on a $21,000 base salary and a $21,000 win bonus.
The second highest base salary went to woman’s fighter Miesha Tate, at $28,000. She failed to pick up a win bonus, but her total earnings ended up being $78,000 in disclosed money, due to picking up a $50,000 best fight bonus.
Based on announced figures, the second-highest earner would have been Travis Browne, whose combination of a $20,000 base, a $20,000 win bonus and a $50,000 bonus for best knockout, came out to $90,000.
Other bonus winners, getting an additional $50,000, were Cat Zingano, who fought Tate, for best fight; and Daniel Pineda for best submission.
Disclosed pay figures for all fighters were:
Urijah Faber $110,000 ($55,000 base; $55,000 win bonus)
Scott Jorgensen $23,500
Kelvin Gastelum $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Uriah Hall $8,000
Cat Zingano $14,000 ($7,000 base; $7,000 win bonus)
Miesha Tate $28,000
Travis Browne $40,000 ($20,000 base; $20,000 win bonus)
Gabriel Gonzaga $24,000
Bubba McDaniel $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Gilbert Smith $8,000
Josh Samman $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Kevin Casey $8,000
Luke Barnatt $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Collin Hart $8,000
Dylan Andrews $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Jimmy Quinlan $8,000
Clint Hester $16,000 ($8,000 base; $8,000 win bonus)
Bristol Marunde $8,000
Cole Miller $42,000 ($21,000 base; $21,000 win bonus)
Bart Palaszewski $15,000
Maximo Blanco $26,000 ($13,000 base; $13,000 win bonus)
Sam Sicilia $8,000
Daniel Pineda $26,000 ($13,000 base; $13,000 win bonus)
Justin Lawrence $8,000