Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion Jose Aldo was paid $400,000 for his first-round knockout loss to bitter rival Conor McGregor in the UFC 194 main event, which took place just last month in Las Vegas, Nevada (details).
Not too shabby, but “Junior” has yet to receive his slice of the pay-per-view (PPV) pie.
Headliners typically get “points” for all major PPV cards; meaning, a few dollars are earned for every mixed martial arts (MMA) fan who plunks down $60 to watch an event. If a PPV generates one million buys, you can imagine what two or three points will return after the reserve is met.
According to his recent media scrum, Aldo is still waiting for his (first?) consolation prize.
Reporter: Many people talked about how much money you would make with this fight. Does that make you feel better despite the loss in any way?
Aldo: Fuck no, no way. I haven’t seen any of it. I still don’t know how they did in pay-per-view. I hope it sold well so we can at least win in that area, but I never thought about money or anything. We talk about this because people ask, but on my daily basis I leave that aside.
Considering what McGregor sold for UFC 189 (see that number here), I would reckon UFC 194 to be even higher.
UFC doesn’t release the PPV numbers, so all we have to go on are the industry estimates. No word yet on what to expect from “Aldo vs. McGregor,” but I’m sure the Brazilian would feel a lot better about his stunning knockout loss if he could sleep on a bed of cash.
For more results and fallout from UFC 194 click here.