If time is money, then Conor McGregor did pretty well for himself at UFC 178. The Irish featherweight sensation earned a little over $1,415 per second in purse winnings alone in just his fourth UFC fight, cashing in a $150,000 check for his sub two-minute victory over Dustin Poirier on the night’s pay-per-view card, according to information released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Throughout weeks of pre-fight hype, McGregor predicted he would knock out Poirier inside the first round, and ultimately he did just that, earning himself an additional Performance of the Night bonus in the process which brought his disclosed earnings to $200,000. Poirier took home $34,000 in the losing effort.
McGregor was one of five fighters to clear six-figure paydays at UFC 178, which took place Saturday, September 27th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Leading the entire card’s disclosed payroll was headliner Demetrious Johnson, who pocketed $183,000 for his effortless UFC flyweight title defense over Chris Cariaso ($24,000). An overwhelming betting favorite, Johnson submitted Cariaso with a second-round kimura to retain his belt for the fifth consecutive time.
Co-main event lightweights Donald Cerrone ($126,000) and Eddie Alvarez ($100,000), plus returning former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz ($100,000) also reached the six-figure mark in purse winnings. Cerrone earned a hard-fought decision over Alvarez, a two-time Bellator champion making his UFC debut, while Cruz demolished Takeya Mizugaki ($32,000) in just 61 seconds in a comeback nearly three years to the day of his last UFC fight.
In addition to McGregor, the trio of Yoel Romero, Tim Kennedy, and Cruz also took home $50,000 fight night bonuses for their work.
As always, the entire UFC 178 payroll can be seen below, although these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as sponsorship money and discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Demetrious Johnson ($129,000 + $54,000 = $183,000) def. Chris Cariaso ($24,000)
Donald Cerrone ($63,000 + $63,000 = $126,000) def. Eddie Alvarez ($100,000)
Conor McGregor ($75,000 + $75,000 = $150,000) def. Dustin Poirier ($34,000)
Yoel Romero ($29,000 + $29,000 = $58,000) def Tim Kennedy ($70,000)
Cat Zingano ($9,000 + $9,000 = $18,000) def. Amanda Nunes ($15,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Dominick Cruz ($50,000 + $50,000 = $100,000) def. Takeya Mizugaki ($32,000)
Jorge Masvidal ($45,000 + $45,000 = $90,000) def. James Krause ($15,000)
Stephen Thompson ($16,000 + $16,000 = $32,000) def. Patrick Cote ($33,000)
Brian Ebersole ($21,000 + $21,000 = $42,000) def. John Howard ($21,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Kevin Lee ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Jon Tuck ($10,000)
Manvel Gamburyan ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Cody Gibson ($10,000)