(Rashad Evans made a quarter-million dollars for doing something most Brazilians would do for free. / Photo via Esther Lin, MMAFighting)
The 24 fighters who competed at Saturday’s UFC 167 event in Las Vegas split $1,841,000 in disclosed salaries and performance bonuses, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, with Georges St-Pierre, Rashad Evans, and Robbie Lawler earning the biggest checks. Of course, the $450,000 total for GSP doesn’t include his cut of the event’s pay-per-view revenue — an incentive granted to the UFC’s top stars which has helped give the welterweight champ an estimated annual income of $12 million.
Check out the numbers below, and keep in mind that they don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions for taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Georges St-Pierre: $450,000 (no win bonus, includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $100,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Rashad Evans: $250,000 (includes $125,000 win bonus)
def. Chael Sonnen: $100,000
Robbie Lawler: $166,000 (includes $83,000 win bonus)
def. Rory MacDonald: $50,000
Tyron Woodley: $154,000 (includes $52,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
def. Josh Koscheck: $78,000
Ali Bagautinov: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Tim Elliott: $12,000
Donald Cerrone: $146,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. Evan Dunham: $25,000
Thales Leites: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Ed Herman: $40,000
Rick Story: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus)
def. Brian Ebersole: $18,000
Erik Perez: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Edwin Figueroa: $12,000
Jason High: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Lapsley: $8,000
Sergio Pettis: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Will Campuzano: $10,000
Gian Villante: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus)
def. Cody Donovan: $8,000
Underpaid: I was kind of surprised to see that Sergio Pettis is being paid like any other eight-and-eight rookie. Not that he deserves more money simply because he’s the lightweight champion’s brother, but I figured his hype would have earned him a slightly bigger contract. Also, Thales Leites has had ten fights in the Octagon and once fought for the middleweight title…and he’s still only making $10,000 to show. Jesus Christ. And yeah, Johny Hendricks just had a $50,000 win bonus and untold future endorsement revenue stolen from him by the judges, but we’ve probably bitched about that enough already.
Overpaid: Nobody, really. I wouldn’t have guessed that Tyron Woodley makes over $50k to show, but hell, everybody at his level should be making that kind of money.