(The fighters of UFC 145 meet perhaps the single greatest interviewer of all time. Props to Creative Loafing for the vid.)
It’s good to be king, Potato Nation. We sure don’t need to tell that to Jon Jones, who walked away from UFC 145 with not only his pretty non-replicated belt, but a cool 400K for his troubles. As Pepper Brooks would surely tell you, that’ll buy one hell of a blumpkin. Not to be outdone, Rashad Evans picked up $300,000, which he immediately invested in a double D sized ocular implant. I know it probably gives you more confidence, “Suga,” but you’ll lose respect from the soccer moms is all we’re saying. Combined, the night’s main-eventers took in just over half of the total disclosed salary, which rang in at $1,241,000.
Check out the full list of salaries, along with our thoughts, after the jump. Per usual, these numbers do not include things like locker room bonuses, PPV cuts, insurance, licenses, taxes, etc., nor do they include the $65,000 end of the night bonuses handed out to those who earned them.
(The fighters of UFC 145 meet perhaps the single greatest interviewer of all time. Props to Creative Loafing for the vid.)
It’s good to be king, Potato Nation. We sure don’t need to tell that to Jon Jones, who walked away from UFC 145 with not only his pretty non-replicated belt, but a cool 400K for his troubles. As Pepper Brooks would surely tell you, that’ll buy one hell of a blumpkin. Not to be outdone, Rashad Evans picked up $300,000, which he immediately invested in a double D sized ocular implant. I know it probably gives you more confidence, “Suga,” but you’ll lose respect from the soccer moms is all we’re saying. Combined, the night’s main-eventers took in just over half of the total disclosed salary, which rang in at $1,241,000.
Check out the full list of salaries below. Per usual, these numbers do not include things like locker room bonuses, PPV cuts, insurance, licenses, taxes, etc., nor do they include the $65,000 end of the night bonuses handed out to those who earned them.
Jon Jones: $400,000 (no win bonus)
def. Rashad Evans: $300,000
Rory MacDonald: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Che Mills: $8,000
Ben Rothwell: $104,000 (includes $52,000 win bonus)
def. Brendan Schaub: $14,000
Michael McDonald: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Miguel Torres: $32,000
Eddie Yagin: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Mark Hominick: $17,000
Mark Bocek: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
def. John Alessio: $10,000
Travis Browne: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Chad Griggs: $27,000
Matt Brown: $36,000 (includes $18,000 win bonus)
def. Stephen Thompson: $8,000
Anthony Njokuani: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. John Makdessi: $12,000
Mac Danzig: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus)
def. Efrain Escudero: $10,000
Chris Clements: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Keith Wisniewski: $10,000
Marcus Brimage: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Maximo Blanco: $13,000
Thoughts…
Overpaid: Who would’ve guessed that Ben Rothwell was making over 50K to show? Before UFC 145, the guy was 1-2 in the UFC and on the heels of a disastrous loss to Mark Hunt, but you would think he was a top contender with that kind of money. We aren’t here to dump haterade on “Big Ben,” because he seems like a pretty cool dude, as evident by his heartfelt post-fight speech. He’s earned his payday, as did everyone else on the card. It’s just a little surprising is all.
Underpaid: OK, now it’s time to dump some haterade. If someone has the balls to attempt and justify how Keith Wisneieiskiwiewi manages to have a higher base salary than bantamweight phenom Michael McDonald and Che Mills, then be our guest. We know that Mills has only had one fight in the UFC prior to UFC 145, but so did Whiskeytits (at least in his current run), and he required Face/Off surgery after his last performance against Josh Neer. This is not a knock on Winsnickerskew, because the dude’s a warrior, but more of a knock on the paltry base pay some fighters receive. Hopefully DW tossed Mills some undisclosed cash in the locker room, or else he might want to start considering the rare bird wrangling business. It may be more frustrating than MMA, but it’s a lot less painful.
As for McDonald, he now stands at 4-0 in the UFC with two straight knockouts, the most recent coming over a former WEC champ and top pound-for-pounder nonetheless, yet he gets paid like a sub-level TUF participant. Makes you wonder what he’s always smiling about.
-J. Jones
An ankle injury has forced Big Ben Rothwell out of a main-card fight at next week’s UFC on Fox 4 event, according to MMAjunkie.com. Thankfully, the injury is minor and should only keep the heavyweight star out of action for a few weeks.
