(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
Ed Herman: $124,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Trevor Smith: $58,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: The end of a pioneering 16-year career, and Aaron Riley only made $14,000 to show. Jesus. We hope he was able to save some of his career earnings, instead of spending it all on ramen noodles. As for Michael Chiesa‘s $15,000 purse, well…it’s comforting to know that The Ultimate Fighter‘s wonderful “six-figure contract” hasn’t changed since season one.
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
(Robbie’s body may have been in the Octagon at that moment, but in his mind, he was already making it rain at Little Darlings. / Photo via Getty Images)
According to figures released by the Washington State Department of Licensing, the UFC paid out $1,050,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 24 fighters who competed at UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga on Saturday, led by main card slugger Robbie Lawler, who took in $156,000 including his win bonus and Knockout of the Night bonus. Three other fighters broke into six-figure territory thanks to their end-of-night bonuses, including Melvin Guillard, Ed Herman, and flyweight headliner Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full salary list below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses.”
Demetrious Johnson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
def. John Moraga: $17,000
Ed Herman: $124,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Trevor Smith: $58,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: The end of a pioneering 16-year career, and Aaron Riley only made $14,000 to show. Jesus. We hope he was able to save some of his career earnings, instead of spending it all on ramen noodles. As for Michael Chiesa‘s $15,000 purse, well…it’s comforting to know that The Ultimate Fighter‘s wonderful “six-figure contract” hasn’t changed since season one.
(The first of Riley’s epic pair of HOOKnSHOOT bouts with Yves Edwards. The second is after the jump.)
16 years, 44 (sanctioned) fights and at least three broken jaws. Ladies and gentlemen of the Potato Nation, Aaron Riley has seen it all.
A nine-fight UFC veteran, Riley announced his retirement from the sport via Twitter yesterday after coming up short against Justin Salas on the Facebook portion of the UFC on FOX 8 undercard.
Riley’s loss to Salas was the first time the seasoned veteran had made a UFC appearance since UFC 135 in September of 2011, where he suffered a broken jaw in the first round of his fight with TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson.
Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Riley built his name under the HOOKnSHOOT banner, fighting alongside (and often with) such future UFC staples as Chris Lytle and Yves Edwards. And not unlike Lytle, Riley would quickly earn a reputation as one of the sports toughest and oft underappreciated brawlers.
(The first of Riley’s epic pair of HOOKnSHOOT bouts with Yves Edwards. The second is after the jump.)
16 years, 44 (sanctioned) fights and at least three broken jaws. Ladies and gentlemen of the Potato Nation, Aaron Riley has seen it all.
A nine-fight UFC veteran, Riley announced his retirement from the sport via Twitter yesterday after coming up short against Justin Salas on the Facebook portion of the UFC on FOX 8 undercard.
Riley’s loss to Salas was the first time the seasoned veteran had made a UFC appearance since UFC 135 in September of 2011, where he suffered a broken jaw in the first round of his fight with TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson.
Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Riley built his name under the HOOKnSHOOT banner, fighting alongside (and often with) such future UFC staples as Chris Lytle and Yves Edwards. And not unlike Lytle, Riley would quickly earn a reputation as one of the sports toughest and oft underappreciated brawlers.
Riley’s first and second stints in the UFC would be short ones, however. In his promotional debut, Riley would be outgunned by fellow slugger Robbie Lawler en route to a unanimous decision loss at UFC 37. After scoring an impressive head kick KO of Michihiro Omigawa at PRIDE – Bushido 7, Riley would earn a trip back to the octagon…where he would have his jaw broken by Spencer Fisher at Fight Night 3.
It would be two years before we would see Aaron Riley in the UFC again. When he did return at UFC 91, however, he would partake in one of the greatest fights of the decade against Jorge Gurgel. It was a fight featuring such a ridiculous volume of strikes that at one point in the second round, the Fightmetric staff allegedly threw their hands in the air and said, “Fuck it, who wants a beer?”
Riley would emerge victorious from that Fight-of-the-Night earning bout and would compete six more times under the UFC banner, scoring wins over Shane Nelson and Joe Brammer.
Again, the comparison to Chris Lytle is inevitable. Both were highly entertaining brawlers who, while never coming within eyesight of a title shot, put the fans entertainment before their records, their careers and more importantly, themselves. Pay your respects to a true pioneer in the comments section, then do yourself a favor and watch his pair of fights with Yves Edwards. Then find us a video of his fight with Lytle, because we heard that shit was insane.
There’s often so much going on during UFC on FOX events that some of the more intriguing storylines get lost amongst all the glamour and glitz of network television. Here are four important themes surrounding UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga that have been flying under the radar heading into this weekend’s show. Let us know what you think, and be sure to come back to CagePotato.com this Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.
Is UFC On FOX 8 Make Or Break For The Flyweights?
UFC on FOX 8 is headlined by the flyweight title fight between reigning champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger John Moraga, and it’s a fight that could help the flyweight division explode if it’s exciting — or hold the division back if it’s a bore.
The last time that 125-pounders headlined an event was at UFC on FOX 6, when Johnson defended his title against John Dodson. The match won “Fight of the Night,” but that might not be the first thing that fans think of when they remember the event. Instead, they think of Anthony Pettis’s body kick KO of Donald Cerrone, or (for less positive reasons) Rampage Jackson’s last Octagon fight against Glover Teixeira.
It may be because flyweight fights so often go to decision, and the fans, especially casual fans, love to see knockouts and submissions. But it’s rare to see true KO power among 125-pound fighters, and the fact that flyweights tend to be extremely quick and nimble makes it harder for submissions to get locked in.
Demetrious Johnson certainly fits this stereotype, as he’s managed to go 27 rounds in his UFC career without securing a single stoppage victory. But Moraga has been an exception to the rule. Both of his Octagon appearances have ended in pleasingly violent finishes. Unfortunately, those finishes — a knockout of Ulysses Gomez at UFC on FOX 4 and a guillotine-choke submission of Chris Cariaso at UFC 155 — were both buried on the opening preliminary bouts of the cards they were on. In other words, even if you attended those events in person, you might have missed them. Despite being a title challenger in a main event fight on FOX, Moraga is still a stranger to most fans.
There’s often so much going on during UFC on FOX events that some of the more intriguing storylines get lost amongst all the glamour and glitz of network television. Here are four important themes surrounding UFC on FOX 8: Johnson vs. Moraga that have been flying under the radar heading into this weekend’s show. Let us know what you think, and be sure to come back to CagePotato.com this Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT for our liveblog of the main card.
Is UFC on FOX 8 Make or Break for the Flyweights?
UFC on FOX 8 is headlined by the flyweight title fight between reigning champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger John Moraga, and it’s a fight that could help the flyweight division explode if it’s exciting — or hold the division back if it’s a bore.
The last time that 125-pounders headlined an event was at UFC on FOX 6, when Johnson defended his title against John Dodson. The match won “Fight of the Night,” but that might not be the first thing that fans think of when they remember the event. Instead, they think of Anthony Pettis’s body kick KO of Donald Cerrone, or (for less positive reasons) Rampage Jackson’s last Octagon fight against Glover Teixeira.
It may be because flyweight fights so often go to decision, and the fans, especially casual fans, love to see knockouts and submissions. But it’s rare to see true KO power among 125-pound fighters, and the fact that flyweights tend to be extremely quick and nimble makes it harder for submissions to get locked in.
Demetrious Johnson certainly fits this stereotype, as he’s managed to go 27 rounds in his UFC career without securing a single stoppage victory. But Moraga has been an exception to the rule. Both of his Octagon appearances have ended in pleasingly violent finishes. Unfortunately, those finishes — a knockout of Ulysses Gomez at UFC on FOX 4 and a guillotine-choke submission of Chris Cariaso at UFC 155 — were both buried on the opening preliminary bouts of the cards they were on. In other words, even if you attended those events in person, you might have missed them. Despite being a title challenger in a main event fight on FOX, Moraga is still a stranger to most fans.
Johnson and Moraga are definitely under pressure to perform this weekend. If the fight ends in a boring, five-round unanimous decision, I don’t think the fans are going to be buying the flyweights going forward — and the UFC is already planning to have them headlining pay-per-views in the future. But if the fight ends in a spectacular finish? That could be the first step towards real interest in the division.
It’s make-or-break time for the flyweights at UFC on FOX 8. Now let’s see if they’re up for the challenge.
Will Rory MacDonald Be the Man to Dethrone Georges St-Pierre?
Canadian Rory MacDonald, who just turned 24, is quickly moving up the welterweight ranks, and a fight between MacDonald and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is going to be bandied about should “Ares” win in impressive fashion against Jake Ellenberger this weekend in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 8.
Of course, there’s a big problem with that matchup and it’s the fact that MacDonald and St-Pierre are longtime teammates and friends at TriStar Gym in Montreal. As MacDonald recently said on The MMA Hour: “We’re not fighting. Me and Georges are friends, we’re training partners. We’ll have our own arrangements and figure it all out when the time comes. It’s not going to come to us fighting.”
Then again, money has a way of changing people’s minds. (See also: “I back.“) Right now, there are only a few fresh contenders left for St-Pierre at welterweight: Johny Hendricks, who GSP faces next at UFC 167 in November; Ellenberger, who may get a title shot with a win over MacDonald; Demian Maia, who is quickly moving up the 170-pound ladder; Erick Silva, who the UFC would love to fast-track to a title shot thanks to his growing popularity in Brazil; and MacDonald, the quiet Canadian with a killer’s glare in his eyes.
After watching MacDonald embarrass BJ Penn, Che Mills, Mike Pyle, Nate Diaz and Mike Guymon, and put up a hell of a fight against Carlos Condit, MacDonald could be the UFC welterweight champion in a few years. It’s not Hendricks or Ellenberger or Maia who has the potential to take the belt away from St-Pierre, it’s the young Canuck MacDonald, and he can solidify his position as heir to the welterweight throne with a victory over Ellenberger this weekend.
Michael Chiesa: From TUF Winner To Potential Lightweight Contender
Michael Chiesa has one of the best stories in sports, but the UFC has done a terrible job promoting him even though he is on his way to becoming a contender in the lightweight division.
Just days after entering the TUF 15 house, Chiesa’s father passed away, but instead of letting the tragedy paralyze him, Chiesa instead used it for strength, and ended up running the table by defeating all of his opponents on his way to capturing the Ultimate Fighter crown. Not bad for a 25-year-old from Spokane, Washington.
After defeating Anton Kuivanen at UFC 157 in his first post-TUF fight in the UFC, Chiesa is now 9-0 as a professional (with seven of those wins by submission inside the first two rounds) and he takes his undefeated record into the cage this weekend in a lightweight battle against Jorge Masvidal that headlines the FX prelims.
It’s obvious the UFC sees the tremendous talents that Chiesa has, and wants to test him against a tough opponent like Masvidal. And it’s a fight that, if he wins, will move Chiesa up from the list of TUF winners who never amount to much to that rare class of TUF winners who have a legitimate shot of holding a UFC title.
Look for Chiesa to use the hometown crowd to his advantage this weekend as he attempts to overcome the odds yet again and take out the far-more experienced Masvidal. And if he does, look for Chiesa to be fighting someone in the top 10 in his next fight, something which seemed unthinkable just over a year ago when the scraggly, lanky, Cody McKenzie-lookalike who no one ever gave a chance first appeared on the UFC’s reality show.
It’s possible that one of the pioneers of the sport will be competing in his last mixed martial arts bout this weekend, as veteran Aaron Riley returns from a two-year injury layoff to take on Justin Salas on the Facebook prelims of UFC on FOX 8.
The owner of a 30-13-1 MMA record, Riley has been competing in the sport since 1997, and despite having an up-and-down career he’s somehow managed to keep a job with the top fighting promotion in the world. It’s a testament to the excitement he always delivers in the cage and his will to overcome injuries and continue on with his career when it likely made more sense to retire, especially following broken jaws in his fights against Ross Pearson and Tony Ferguson.
Whenever I look at a fighter’s record and I see that they’ve fought for promotions like HOOKnSHOOT (watch his epic fights with Yves Edwards if you haven’t already), Shooto and PRIDE, I automatically develop a higher level of respect for them. These are the types of fighters who set the table for the thousands that followed. It’s guys like Riley who are the reason that many young men and women around the world realized they could make a living out of doing what they love to do — being a mixed martial artist.
Hopefully it’s not the end of Riley’s career this weekend, but with another loss, his UFC record would drop to 3-6 and that’s likely not good enough to stick around any longer. For a guy who first appeared in the Octagon at UFC 37 in 2002, Riley has nothing to be ashamed of if this is truly the last time we see him fight. But let’s not count him out just yet.
(Step 1. Absorb EVERY kick, Step 2. ??????, Step 3. Profit. Props to the brilliant cine-files over at Pajiba for the inspiration behind this article.)
Mixed martial arts fans are perhaps the most ruthless group of people out there; a quick scroll down any one of our comments sections only confirms this. One minute, a certain fighter is praised as a ruthless, badass hombre cut from the same cloth as the greatest champions the sport has ever known, and the next, they’re being told to save themselves the embarrassment of another performance and just retire already. It’s a crazy sport.
But then there are those few and far between fighters that we choose to rally behind regardless of where they currently stand in the MMA ranking system. Sometimes it’s simply because they can make us laugh, and other times it’s their “go for broke” mentality that wins us over. Sure, they’ve dropped seven of their last eight, including one to a drunken bar patron who accidentally stumbled into the ring, but all of those fights were like totally awesome, bro, so who are we to complain when they are kept around while other, more talented fighters are let go?
Here are eight fighters we will continue to root for, no matter how quickly their performances make us silently wish otherwise.
#8 – Aaron Riley (Even when Riley *doesn’t* lose a fight, he still loses the fight.) Current record: 30-13-1 Record in last five fights: 2-3
Aaron Riley’s nickname could very well be “TUF Fodder,” because the man has fought nothing but The Ultimate Fighter alums, and often winners, for the better part of his UFC career. And it’s a shame, because the dude always brings the fight to these whippersnappers, but simply hasn’t been able to put any of them away. Most recently, he had his jaw broken again by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at UFC 135. Back at UFC 105, he was made into mince meat by TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson. Set to square off against, you guessed it, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, at UFC on FUEL 3 in May, Riley may be looking at his final chance to prove he can hang with these young guns before he is demoted to the Strikeforce roster. Speaking of a certain Alaskan native…
(Step 1. Absorb EVERY kick, Step 2. ??????, Step 3. Profit. Props to the brilliant cine-files over at Pajiba for the inspiration behind this article.)
Mixed martial arts fans are perhaps the most ruthless group of people out there; a quick scroll down any one of our comments sections only confirms this. One minute, a certain fighter is praised as a ruthless, badass hombre cut from the same cloth as the greatest champions the sport has ever known, and the next, they’re being told to save themselves the embarrassment of another performance and just retire already. It’s a crazy sport.
But then there are those few and far between fighters that we choose to rally behind regardless of where they currently stand in the MMA ranking system. Sometimes it’s simply because they can make us laugh, and other times it’s their “go for broke” mentality that wins us over. Sure, they’ve dropped seven of their last eight, including one to a drunken bar patron who accidentally stumbled into the ring, but all of those fights were like totally awesome, bro, so who are we to complain when they are kept around while other, more talented fighters are let go?
Here are eight fighters we will continue to root for, no matter how quickly their performances make us silently wish otherwise.
#8 – Aaron Riley (Even when Riley *doesn’t* lose a fight, he still loses the fight.) Current record: 30-13-1 Record in last five fights: 2-3
Aaron Riley’s nickname could very well be “TUF Fodder,” because the man has fought nothing but The Ultimate Fighter alums, and often winners, for the better part of his UFC career. And it’s a shame, because the dude always brings the fight to these whippersnappers, but simply hasn’t been able to put any of them away. Most recently, he had his jaw broken again by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at UFC 135. Back at UFC 105, he was made into mince meat by TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson. Set to square off against, you guessed it, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, at UFC on FUEL 3 in May, Riley may be looking at his final chance to prove he can hang with these young guns before he is demoted to the Strikeforce roster. Speaking of a certain Alaskan native…
#7 – Cody McKenzie Current record: 12-2 Record in last five fights: 3-2
Don’t let the numbers fool you, Cody McKenzie is in dire straights. Coming off two rear-naked choke losses in a row, the inventor of “The McKenzietine” is in a must win situation against Aaron Riley come May 15th. Some of you may bash the “AK kid” for being a one-trick pony, and you are most certainly right, but let us not forget that this man once made Josh Koscheck eat crow in one of the greatest moments in TUF History. That alone warrants our worship, so here’s hoping McKenzie either finds a way to win against Riley or at least look good enough to get a fourth shot under the Zuffa banner.
#6 – Pat Barry Current record: 7-4 Record in last five fights: 2-3
Pat Barry is one funny motherfucker. This we know. Sure, some of his jokes are a little out of date by internet terms, but the man is undoubtedly an entertainer. He is also 4-4 in the octagon thus far, and has been submitted by Tim Hague and KO’d by Cheick Kongo, the latter of which is nothing to complain about, but still, you get the point. Perhaps it is too early in Barry’s career to truly gauge his success, being that he is relatively new to the whole ground aspect of MMA. And he did show some improvement when he escaped that (poorly applied) armbar of Christian Morecraft‘s, right? In either case, “HD” won’t have to be worried about getting submitted when he takes on hard hitting Lavar Johnson at UFC on FOX 3 in May. Let’s just pray his chin holds up better than last time.
After crushing any of Mirko Cro Cop‘s dreams of a UFC Heavyweight title back at UFC 70 with one of the most shocking victories in the history of the sport, hard times befell the mythical mountain creature known as “Napao.” He would get punched out by Randy Couture and Fabricio Werdum in his next two contests, and would spend the rest of his first octagon run picking up wins over sub-UFC competition sandwiched between violent knockout losses to the likes of Shane Carwin and Junior Dos Santos. Thankfully, Gonzaga has gone back to his BJJ roots as of late and scored two straight submission wins, because he will need to pull out every trick in his arsenal when he faces undefeated powerhouse Shane Del Rosario at UFC 146.
In: “I WANT MY BELT BACK!” Out: “There’s gone be some black on black crime.” VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Check this out: official UFC propaganda would have us believe that Rampage Jackson is actually out there somewhere working. They even have the nerve to pause on a calendar square labeled “JIU JITSU”, when we all know damn well that ‘Page would pull guard right after he lets someone hold an umbrella for him.
In: “I WANT MY BELT BACK!” Out: “There’s gone be some black on black crime.” VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Check this out: official UFC propaganda would have us believe that Rampage Jackson is actually out there somewhere working. They even have the nerve to pause on a calendar square labeled “JIU JITSU”, when we all know damn well that ‘Page would pull guard right after he lets someone hold an umbrella for him.
Main Card Light Heavyweight Championship: Jon Jones vs Quinton Jackson
Matt Hughes vs Diego Sanchez
Ben Rothwell vs Mark Hunt
Nate Diaz vs Takanori Gomi
Travis Browne vs Rob Broughton
Spike Card
Tony Ferguson vs Aaron Riley
Nick Ring vs Tim Boetsch
Facebook Card
James Te Huna vs Ricardo Romero
Takeya Mizugaki vs Cole Escovedo
We were supposed to get a fight between Kid Yamamoto and Damacio Page, but it was announced yesterday that both guys had managed to get hurt in training.
