Beating a slew of Brazilian legends seems to have paid off for Chris Weidman. The UFC’s middleweight champion led the payroll for Saturday’s UFC 187 pay-per-view in Las Vegas, pocketing $500,000 in purse income for his first-round victory over Vitor Belfort in the night’s co-main event, according to figures released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Joining Weidman atop the disclosed salary list was light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson. “Rumble” scored a $500,000 payday despite dropping his bid for Jon Jones’ vacant UFC title with a third-round submission loss to Daniel Cormier in the card’s headlining bout. Cormier and Belfort earned $180,000 and $300,000 in victory and defeat, respectively.
Aside from the two title bouts, three additional fighters cashed six-figure purses for their work at UFC 187. Donald Cerrone earned $152,000 for his TKO win over John Makdessi, while Joseph Benavidez earned $106,000 for his decision win over John Moraga on the night’s main card. Veteran Dong Hyun Kim pocketed $116,000 for his preliminary card victory over Josh Burkman.
UFC 187 took place May 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
In addition to the reported salaries, Cormier joined Weidman in earning $50,000 in fight night bonuses, as did heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne.
Notably, both Johnson and Belfort’s purses differed from the show/win splits generally seen in disclosed UFC salaries. Johnson carried an all-upfront split of $500,000/$0, while Belfort carried a front-loaded split of $300,000/$200,000.
A complete list of the UFC 187 salaries can be seen below. As always, these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as sponsorship money, pay-per-view income, and discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed.
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Daniel Cormier ($90,000 + $90,000 = $180,000) def. Anthony Johnson ($500,000)
Chris Weidman ($250,000 + $250,000 = $500,000) def. Vitor Belfort ($300,000)
Donald Cerrone ($76,000 + $76,000 = $152,000) def. John Makdessi ($30,000)
Andrei Arlovski ($42,000 + $42,000 = $84,000) def. Travis Browne ($60,000)
Joseph Benavidez ($53,000 + $53,000 = $106,000) def. John Moraga ($28,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
John Dodson ($20,000 + $20,000 = $40,000) def. Zach Makovsky ($19,000)
Dong Hyun Kim ($58,000 + $58,000 = $116,000) def. Josh Burkman ($45,000)
Rafael Natal ($35,000 + $35,000 = $70,000) def. Uriah Hall ($14,000)
Colby Covington ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Mike Pyle ($51,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Islam Makhachev ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Leo Kuntz ($10,000)
Justin Scoggins ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Josh Sampo ($13,000)