Tag: fighter salaries

UFC 148 Salaries: FoGriff Out-Earns Anderson Silva with a $275K Payday

Anderson Silva Forrest Griffin UFC 101
(He may not have invited him to the BBQ afterward, but Anderson was going to make sure that Griffin squealed like a pig one way or another.)

The salaries for UFC 148’s twenty-two fighters were released earlier today, and it appears that Chael Sonnen earned exactly one dollar for every insult he aimed at the people of Brazil, which is 50% higher than the UFC’s current average compensatory rate for drawing the ire of an entire nation, a.k.a the Josh Koscheck clause, so a tip of the hat is in order for The Orgeonian in that regard. It will surely by him all of the medium rare steak sandwiches he could ever hope to have.

In other news, despite getting rocked on more than one occasion in his fight with the now retired Tito Ortiz and sprinting out of the cage like he was reliving his fight with Anderson Silva before the decision was even read, Forrest Griffin managed to walk away with the W and a cool $275,000 to boot. Actually, when you add in his $75,000 FOTN bonus, the total comes to…a much higher number. It would be impossible for us to crunch those kinds of numbers and still get this article together in just 8 hours, so take it for what it is and shut up.

The full list of salaries, along with our thoughts (read:complaints), is after the jump.

Anderson Silva Forrest Griffin UFC 101
(He may not have invited him to the BBQ afterward, but Anderson was going to make sure that Griffin squealed like a pig one way or another.)

The salaries for UFC 148′s twenty-two fighters were released earlier today, and it appears that Chael Sonnen earned exactly one dollar for every insult he aimed at the people of Brazil, which is 50% higher than the UFC’s current average compensatory rate for drawing the ire of an entire nation, a.k.a the Josh Koscheck clause, so a tip of the hat is in order for The Orgeonian in that regard. It will surely by him all of the medium rare steak sandwiches he could ever hope to have.

In other news, despite getting rocked on more than one occasion in his fight with the now retired Tito Ortiz and sprinting out of the cage like he was reliving his fight with Anderson Silva before the decision was even read, Forrest Griffin managed to walk away with the W and a cool $275,000 to boot. Actually, when you add in his $75,000 FOTN bonus, the total comes to…a much higher number. It would be impossible for us to crunch those kinds of numbers and still get this article together in just 8 hours, so take it for what it is and shut up.

Anderson Silva: $200,000 (no win bonus)
Chael Sonnen: $50,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($125,000 to show, $150,000 to win)
Tito Ortiz: $250,000

Cung Le: $150,000 (No win bonus)
Patrick Cote: $21,000

Demian Maia: $96,000 ($48,000 to show, $48,000 to win)
Dong Hyun Kim: $44,000

Mike Easton: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Ivan Menjivar: $13,000

Chad Mendes: $36,000 ($18,000 to show, $18,000 to win)
Cody McKenzie: $10,000

Habib Nurmagomedov: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Gleison Tibau: $31,000

Constantinos Philippou: $32,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 to win)
Riki Fukuda: $28,000

Melvin Guillard: $72,000 ($36,000 to show, $36,000 to win)
Fabricio Camoes: $8,000

Rafaello Oliveira: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Yoislandy Izquierdo: $6,000

Shane Roller: $46,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 to win)
John Alessio: $10,000

Overpaid: Look, we know Cung Le is a big time movie star (He was the bomb in Phantoms Pandorum, yo.) and all, but is he really popular enough to earn a 150 thousand dollar paycheck? We’ll give him all the credit in the world for his performance against Patrick Cote, which was easily his finest since he permanently impacted five pounds of undigested raw meat into Scott Smith’s small intestine at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, but to think that his base rate is almost as high as Silva’s is pretty unbelievable. Granted, Silva likely took home a significant cut of the astronomical PPV dollars, which likely boosted his salary toward the half mil mark considering those numbers. We imagine that was the case, though to a lesser extent, for Sonnen as well, because 50K doesn’t seem like much compensation for a man who has been tirelessly trolling the MMA world for a good two years now.

Also, Riki Fukuda apparently makes 28K to show. If we could tell you who that is, we would surely have more of an opinion on the matter.

*Checks Sherdog*

Ah, he’s the defending DEEP middleweight champion. Nope, still nothing.

Underpaid: Honestly, there isn’t really any figure that jumps to our immediate attention. We just hope DW threw Cody McKenzie a few extra dollars for essentially jumping on a grenade against Chad Mendes. And while we’re speaking of Mendes, considering that the man is a former title challenger, he isn’t exactly living up to his “Money” moniker. Let’s hope when his contract expires he can at least start making the money he rightfully deserves as the number 2 featherweight in the world.

–J. Jones 

UFC 145 Salaries: Jon Jones Tops the Payroll With 400 Grand, Polly

(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

ESPN Segment On UFC Salaries to Air Sunday Morning; UFC to Counter By Releasing Unedited Lorenzo Fertitta Interview


(“If they aren’t with us, they’re against us, and in that case we will crush them.”)

The much ballyhooed ESPN: Outside the Lines (which we originally erroneously identified as E:60) episode dealing with UFC salaries and the assertion that the promotion is becoming a monopoly will air Sunday morning on the sports network and Dana White says he’s looking forward to it.

According to the UFC president, the company is preparing to counter-program the show with the uncut and unedited version of the interview with UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta to expose ESPN and the outlet’s main MMA analyst Josh Gross, who contributed to the episode.


(“If they aren’t with us, they’re against us, and in that case we will crush them.”)

The much ballyhooed ESPN: Outside the Lines (which we originally erroneously identified as E:60) episode dealing with UFC salaries and the assertion that the promotion is becoming a monopoly will air Sunday morning on the sports network and Dana White says he’s looking forward to it.

According to the UFC president, the company is preparing to counter-program the show with the uncut and unedited version of the interview with UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta to expose ESPN and the outlet’s main MMA analyst Josh Gross, who contributed to the episode.

White and Gross have a tumultuous  history, and White makes no bones about his feelings about the former managing editor of Sherdog.com, who revealed the finalists of TUF 4 prior to the season finale of the show and wrote a vitriolic open letter to White, pointing a finger at him and the UFC for the epidemic of fighter PED use.

According to an ESPN story posted yesterday about Sunday’s piece, several UFC fighters who expressed displeasure about fighter salaries were too afraid to speak about the issue on record. The only past and present fighter who would talk about it was Ken Shamrock who recently lost a legal battle with the MMA juggernaut. White has promised to expose Shamrock as well.

Perhaps the most telling tweet by White touches on why ESPN, who has a lucrative UFC broadcasting deal in the UK would attack Zuffa on this front.

 

Coincidentally, MMA-Manifesto released a comprehensive list of all of  the UFC base salaries this week and although they are a far cry from those of their counterparts in other professional sports, fighters don’t do *that bad*, considering they often receive back room bonuses and sponsorship money as well. Keep in mind that a lot of these guys made minimum wage (or approximately $16,000 a year) prior to being signed by Zuffa. That being said, hopefully the disparity in pay eventually matches the 70/30 split boxers share with promoters some day, but unless a union eventually happens, it’s unlikely.

Check out the rest of The Baldfather’s tweets on the show below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barnett Top Money Earner On $942,150 Payroll for Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov Event Saturday Night


(“Cormier has been fighting how long and he made how much?!” -Photo courtesy of Ric Fogel/ESPN.com)

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Josh Barnett’s $150,000 salary accounted for 16 percent of the $942,150 payroll of Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati. The man Barnett defeated, Sergei Kharitonov and his fellow HWGP finalist Daniel Cormier both tied for the second best paid fighters of the night with $100,000 a piece for their efforts, followed closely by Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal who received a flat fee of $85,000 for his win over Roger Gracie, who got $80,000.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted $50,000 for his win over Ronaldo Souza, who took home $70,000 and no belt.


(“Cormier has been fighting how long and he made how much?!” -Photo courtesy of Ric Fogel/ESPN.com)

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist Josh Barnett’s $150,000 salary accounted for 16 percent of the $942,150 payroll of Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati. The man Barnett defeated, Sergei Kharitonov and his fellow HWGP finalist Daniel Cormier both tied for the second best paid fighters of the night with $100,000 a piece for their efforts, followed closely by Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal who received a flat fee of $85,000 for his win over Roger Gracie, who got $80,000.

Newly-crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold netted $50,000 for his win over Ronaldo Souza, who took home $70,000 and no belt.

If not for Tito Ortiz’s $450,000 payday for his win over Ryan Bader, this card’s payroll would have eclipsed UFC 132′s, which is the last UFC event with a mandatory disclosed salary ledger.

Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov
Saturday, September 10, 2011
U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio

Main Card

Josh Barnett: $150,000 (no win bonus) def. Sergei Kharitonov: $100,000

Daniel Cormier: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Silva: $100,000

Luke Rockhold: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Ronaldo Souza: $70,000

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: $85,000 (no win bonus) def. Roger Gracie: $80,000

Pat Healy: $17,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Maximo Blanco: $13,000

Preliminary Card

Mike Kyle: $44,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus) def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $5,000

Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Yoel Romero: $10,000

Jordan Mein: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos: $20,000

Alexis Davis: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Amanda Nunes: $7,500

Dominique Steele: $5,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Chris Mierzwiak: $3,000

Disclosed fighter payroll: $942,150

———-

UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber
Saturday, July 2, 2011
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada

Main Card

Dominick Cruz: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Urijah Faber: $32,000

Chris Leben: $92,000 (includes $46,000 win bonus) def. Wanderlei Silva $200,000 (flat rate)

Dennis Siver: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Matt Wiman: $18,000

Tito Ortiz: $450,000 (flat rate; no win bonus) def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Carlos Condit: $68,000 (includes $34,000 win bonus) def. Dong Hyun Kim: $41,000

Preliminary Card

Melvin Guillard: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus) def. Shane Roller: $21,000

Rafael dos Anjos: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. George Sotiropoulos: $15,000

Brian Bowles: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Takeya Mizugaki: $12,000

Aaron Simpson: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Brad Tavares: $10,000

Anthony Njokuani: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $14,000

Jeff Hougland: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Donny Walker: $6,000

Disclosed fighter payroll: $1,277,000 58,045.45