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It’s a far cry from the $2 million he made in the rematch with Conor McGregor, but we’re sure his next check will be bigger.
UFC 241 went down on Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and you know what that means! The California State Athletic Commission forces the UFC to disclose the fighter pay for everyone on the card. The CSAC then provides that info to us nosy MMA websites!
It’s a legal requirement carried over from boxing and it’s supposed to stop promoters from screwing over their fighters. Whether it really works all that well isn’t super clear, but it is fun getting to look under the hood and see basic fighter pay figures … even if they apparently don’t include all sorts of extra money fighters make outside the terms of the bout agreement.
It should be no surprise that Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier made that sweet heavyweight money, with Miocic getting a flat 750k win or lose. The last time we saw Stipe’s pre-champ money was 2016 and he was making 60k/60k! It pays to be or have been the champ! And who knows what kind of gravy Daniel Cormier has poured all over his contract, but we’re sure it’s thick and delicious considering how integrated into the UFC machine he is.
We can understand why Nate Diaz isn’t too happy with his compensation. The flat $250k fee is a far cry from the $500k he got to fight McGregor last minute, and peanuts compared to the $2 million he got for the rematch. He’s still making more than Anthony Pettis, who will get the show portion of his $155k/$155k contract.
Other fighters doing pretty well (when they win) are Derek Brunson ($95k/$95k), Cory Sandhagen ($77k/$77k) and Paulo Costa ($60k/$60k). Jodie Esquibel sits all the way at the bottom making $10k for her 30-27×3 decision loss to Hannah Cifers in the ‘featured’ bout of the Fight Pass prelims.
Here’s all the numbers:
Stipe Miocic: $750,000 (no win bonus)
def. Daniel Cormier: $500,000
Nate Diaz $250,000 (no win bonus)
def. Anthony Pettis: $155,000
Paulo Costa $120,000 (includes $60,000 win bonus)
def. Yoel Romero: $150,000
Sodiq Yusuff $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Gabriel Benitez: $40,000
Derek Brunson $190,000 (includes $95,000 win bonus)
def. Ian Heinisch: $25,000
Khama Worthy $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Devonte Smith: $23,000
Cory Sandhagen $154,000 (includes $77,000 win bonus)
def. Raphael Assuncao: $79,000
Drakkar Klose $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus)
def. Christos Giagos: $28,000
Casey Kenney $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Manny Bermudez: $20,000
Hannah Cifers $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Jodie Esquibel: $10,000
Kyung Ho Kang $44,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)
def. Brandon Davis: $21,000
Sabina Mazo $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Shana Dobson: $12,000