Marlon Moraes picked up a nice chunk of change for the latest defense of his World Series of Fighting title. Moraes, the promotion’s only ever bantamweight champion, inked a new deal with WSOF in June. On Saturday that deal came to fruition, as Moraes earned a $140,000 payday for his third-round submission over Sheymon Moraes in WSOF 22’s co-main event, according to information released by the Nevada Athletic Commission to MMAFighting.com.
Aside from Moraes, the card’s leading earner was welterweight champion Rousimar Palhares, though his take was half of what it could’ve been. Palhares earned $40,000 in show money for his controversial victory over Jake Shields in WSOF 22’s headlining bout, but his $40,000 win bonus was withheld by the NAC due to Palhares’ actions in the contest.
Palhares committed several eye gouges on Shields and held his winning submission for several moments after Shields tapped out. Both WSOF and the NAC are expected to review Palhares’ behavior.
WSOF 22 took place Aug. 1 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night’s main card aired live on NBC Sports Network.
A complete breakdown of WSOF 22’s salaries can be seen below, although these figures do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as sponsorship money is not publicly disclosed.
Main Card (NBC Sports Network)
Rousimar Palhares ($40,000 + $0* = $40,000) def. Jake Shields ($35,000)
Marlon Moraes ($70,000 + $70,000 = $140,000) def. Sheymon Moraes ($10,000)
Clifford Starks ($20,000 + N/A = $20,000) def. Mike Kyle ($10,000)
Abubakar Nurmagomedov ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Jorge Moreno ($1,000)
Islam Mamedov ($4,000 + $4,000 = $8,000) def. Jimmy Spicuzza ($3,000)
Preliminary Card (Online)
Jake Heun ($3,000 + $3,000 = $6,000)def. Davin Clark ($3,000)
Donovan Frelow ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Carlos Garcia ($1,000)
Marco Simmons ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Jimmy Jones ($1,000)
Cory Hendricks ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Julio Hinojosa ($1,000)
Gil Guardado ($1,000 + $1,000 = $2,000) def. Pete Martin ($1,000)
*Nevada Athletic Commission withheld win bonus from Palhares