Nate Diaz sat out the better part of a year in protest of his UFC contract, and while he ultimately returned to fight Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on FOX 13, his holdout seems to have been in vain. Diaz earned just $16,000 for his co-main event loss to dos Anjos this past December, according to information released to MMAFighting.com by the Arizona Boxing and MMA Commission.
Diaz was scheduled to earn a show/win split of $20,000/$20,000, according to commission records, however he forfeited 20-percent of his purse to dos Anjos after missing weight by 4.6 pounds. Still, the salary number is surprising considering Diaz’s extensive 21-fight tenure in the UFC, most of which was spent contending among the upper echelon of the lightweight division.
As for the rest of the card, only two fighters earned purses in the six-figure range. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos pocketed $260,000 for his main event win over Stipe Miocic ($30,000), which aired live on FOX and peaked at 3.8 million viewers, while fellow heavyweight Alistair Overeem earned $150,000 for his main card victory over Stefan Struve ($40,000).
It’s worth noting, however, that both dos Santos and Overeem, as well as all other foreign fighters on the card, forfeited a significant portion of their checks (30-percent) to the Internal Revenue Service upfront, meaning dos Santos’ documented fight night checks actually dropped from $260,000 to $182,000, while Overeem’s fell from $150,000 to $105,000, not counting expenses and pre-fight medicals, which were not included on commission records.
UFC on FOX 13 took place Dec. 13, 2014 at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ. Both dos Santos and Miocic took home additional $50,000 fight night bonuses for their work, as did Matt Mitrione and Ian Entwistle.
As always, the entire UFC on FOX 13 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 (FOX)
Junior dos Santos ($130,000 + $130,000 = $260,000) def. Stipe Miocic ($30,000)
Rafael dos Anjos ($41,000 + $41,000 + $4,000* = $86,000) def. Nate Diaz ($20,000 – $4,000* = $16,000)
Alistair Overeem ($100,000 + $50,000 = $150,000) def. Stefan Struve ($40,000)
Matt Mitrione ($33,000 + $33,000 = $66,000) def. Gabriel Gonzaga ($38,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Joanna Jedrzejczyk ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Claudia Gadelha ($10,000)
John Moraga ($25,000 + $25,000 = $50,000) def. Willie Gates ($8,000)
Ben Saunders ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) def. Joe Riggs ($16,000)
Drew Dober ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Jamie Varner ($20,000)
Ed Herman ($47,000) vs. Derek Brunson (N/A) cancelled
Bryan Barberena ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Joe Ellenberger ($10,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
David Michaud ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Garett Whiteley ($8,000)
Henry Cejudo ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Dustin Kimura ($15,000)
Ian Entwistle ($8,000 + $8,000 = $16,000) def. Anthony Birchak ($8,000)
*Diaz forfeited 20-percent of his purse to dos Anjos after missing weight