Ex-NFL Player Greg Hardy Takes Home Six-Figure Payday for First Win in the UFC

Former NFL player Greg Hardy got his first UFC win this past Saturday night and he was rewarded with one of the highest paychecks on the entire card. The full salaries for UFC Fight Night from Fort Lauderdale were released on Tuesday by the Florida Box…

Former NFL player Greg Hardy got his first UFC win this past Saturday night and he was rewarded with one of the highest paychecks on the entire card. The full salaries for UFC Fight Night from Fort Lauderdale were released on Tuesday by the Florida Boxing Commission. Hardy took home $150,000 for his lopsided win […]

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UFC 187 Salaries: Daniel Cormier Earns $180,000 for Light Heavyweight Title Win

Defending UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and light heavyweight challenger Anthony Johnson topped the list of UFC 187 fighter salaries, earning $500,000 each for their performances. At the same time, Daniel Cormier, who submitted Johnson for the light heavyweight title, took in only $180,000 for his effort. The Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed the numbers […]

Defending UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and light heavyweight challenger Anthony Johnson topped the list of UFC 187 fighter salaries, earning $500,000 each for their performances. At the same time, Daniel Cormier, who submitted Johnson for the light heavyweight title, took in only $180,000 for his effort. The Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed the numbers […]

UFC 182 Results: Scorecards, Payouts and Salaries from Jones vs. Cormier Card

Looking for a bone-crunching knockout that will end up in endless GIFs and Vines over the next few days? UFC 182 wasn’t for you. The five fights on Saturday night’s main card featured exactly zero knockouts, with each fight going to the judges’ scorecards. For the most part, the results were self-explanatory. Donald Cerrone and Brad Tavares each […]

Looking for a bone-crunching knockout that will end up in endless GIFs and Vines over the next few days? UFC 182 wasn’t for you. The five fights on Saturday night’s main card featured exactly zero knockouts, with each fight going to the judges’ scorecards. For the most part, the results were self-explanatory. Donald Cerrone and Brad Tavares each […]

UFC 181 Salaries & Medical Suspensions: Robbie Lawler Earns Top Payday, Anthony Pettis Faces Another (Possibly) Lengthy Suspension


(Photo via Getty.)

The year of The Rhino  “Ruthless” continues, as Robbie Lawler walked away from UFC 181 last weekend with not only the belt, but the biggest payday of all 22 competing fighters. Lawler earned just over 200K ($220,000) for his efforts, surpassing Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez ($200,00 each) on the night’s list of top earners.

On the injury side of things, it looks like several fighters who competed at UFC 181 could be facing lengthy layoffs, chief among them being Pettis (Ed note: WHY GOD, WHYY?!!). So join us after the jump to check out the full list of salaries and medical suspensions.

Robbie Lawler: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $150,000

Anthony Pettis: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
def. Gilbert Melendez: $200,000

Travis Browne: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Brendan Schaub: $32,000


(Photo via Getty.)

The year of The Rhino  ”Ruthless” continues, as Robbie Lawler walked away from UFC 181 last weekend with not only the belt, but the biggest payday of all 22 competing fighters. Lawler earned just over 200K ($220,000) for his efforts, surpassing Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez ($200,00 each) on the night’s list of top earners.

On the injury side of things, it looks like several fighters who competed at UFC 181 could be facing lengthy layoffs, chief among them being Pettis (Ed note: WHY GOD, WHYY?!!). So join us after the jump to check out the full list of salaries and medical suspensions.

Robbie Lawler: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $150,000

Anthony Pettis: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
def. Gilbert Melendez: $200,000

Travis Browne: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Brendan Schaub: $32,000

Todd Duffee: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Hamilton: $10,000

Tony Ferguson: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus)
def. Abel Trujillo: $14,000

Urijah Faber: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)
def. Francisco Rivera: $20,000

Josh Samman: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Eddie Gordon: $15,000

Corey Anderson: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Justin Jones: $8,000

Raquel Pennington: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Ashlee Evans-Smith: $8,000

Sergio Pettis: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Hobar: $10,000

Clay Collard: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Alex White: $10,000

I’m going to skip the over/underpaid analysis for this card, because I think we all can all reach our own conclusions on fighter pay by this point. Suffice it to say, anyone making less than 20K to show while fighting in an organization that rents out the Smith Center to make a non-announcement is getting screwed over big time. Just one man’s humble opinion.

Instead, I’d like to talk a little more about Joe Rogan’s brutally honest critique of Brendan Schaub’s career and chances of ever becoming a champion earlier today. While I was watching Rogan essentially tell Schaub to retire, I couldn’t help but play the devil’s advocate when thinking of Robbie Lawler.

Less than 3 years ago, “Ruthless” had dropped back-to-back fights to Ronaldo Souza and Tim Kennedy, and three of his past four overall. In both those performances, you could literally see the moment in which Lawler seemed to break, to give up. It seemed as if his best days were behind him, and it was safe to say that no one had him on their list of future UFC champions at that point. The same can be said for Schaub right now.

Am I saying that Schaub could be a future heavyweight champ? Not exactly, I’m just saying that Rogan was perhaps a little dismissive of his friend’s chances, albeit for the right reasons. While “Ruthless” has years of fight experience over Schaub that no doubt played a role in his improbable career revival, let’s not act like there aren’t crazier things that have happened in MMA than the idea of Brendan Schaub: Heavyweight Champion. It’s an argument of faith vs. fact, sure, but guys, Matt Serra beat Georges St. Pierre once. No seriously, it happened.

Food for thought, I guess.

Anyways, on to those medical suspensions…

Anthony Pettis: Requires x-ray of left hand; if positive, requires doctor’s clearance or no contest until June 6

Abel Trujillo: Requires doctor’s clearance on fractured nose or no contest until Jun. 6; minimum suspension until Jan. 6, no contest until Dec. 2

Francisco Rivera: Requires ophthalmologist’s clearance on left eye abrasion or no contest until June 6

Eddie Gordon: Requires post-concussive clearance from neurologist or sports medicine doctor prior to starting contact training; minimum suspension no contest until March 7, no contact until Feb. 5

Brendan Schaub: Suspended until Feb. 5, no contact until Jan. 21 due to upper lip laceration

Anthony Hamilton: Suspended until Jan. 21, no contact until Jan. 6 due to right forehead laceration

Tony Ferguson: Suspended until Jan. 21, no contact until Jan. 6 due to right forehead laceration

Raquel Pennington: Suspended until Jan. 21, no contact until Jan. 6 due to forehead laceration

Johny Hendricks: Suspended until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28 due to tough fight

Todd Duffee: Suspended until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28 due to forehead laceration

Matt Hobar: Suspended until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28 due to left eye hematoma

Sergio Pettis: Suspended until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28

Clay Collard: Requires orthopedic clearance on left forearm or no contest until June 6; minimum suspension no contest until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28

Alex White: Suspended until Jan. 6, no contact until Dec. 28 due to left upper eyebrow laceration

Anthony Pettis…might be out until June…

Ok, calm down. Everyone just CALM DOWN, alright! The results for Anthony’s hand are still pending, and considering he said he felt fine at the post-fight press conference, let’s all just assume that it will be less than 15 months before we see him again. You hear me?! KEEP IT TOGETHER!!

J. Jones

Tito Ortiz Fined $2,500 for Acting Like a Jackass After Bellator 131 Win Against Stephan Bonnar


(Photo via Elias Rodriguez)

As if the fight itself wasn’t enough of a downer following the otherwise-fantastic Bellator 131 main card, Tito Ortiz ended his match with Stephan Bonnar by throwing double middle fingers behind his back, then spraying water at Bonnar’s prone body and giving him more middle fingers when the decision was read.

On some level, we respect Ortiz for not breaking kayfabe; most other MMA fighters would have hugged it out with Bonnar afterwards, then told the crowd that all the animosity and harsh words were just to promote the fight. Ugh. But the California State Athletic Commission did not appreciate Ortiz’s realness, and fined him $2,500 for his antics.

That $2,500 hit represents less than 1% of Ortiz’s reported $300,000 salary from the fight, so don’t shed any tears for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Bonnar’s reported salary was $100,000, according to figures released by the CSAC. You can see the rest of the Bellator 131 salaries here — though they list Melvin Manhoef and King Mo as making just $10,000 from their fights, so take those numbers with a grain of salt.


(Photo via Elias Rodriguez)

As if the fight itself wasn’t enough of a downer following the otherwise-fantastic Bellator 131 main card, Tito Ortiz ended his match with Stephan Bonnar by throwing double middle fingers behind his back, then spraying water at Bonnar’s prone body and giving him more middle fingers when the decision was read.

On some level, we respect Ortiz for not breaking kayfabe; most other MMA fighters would have hugged it out with Bonnar afterwards, then told the crowd that all the animosity and harsh words were just to promote the fight. Ugh. But the California State Athletic Commission did not appreciate Ortiz’s realness, and fined him $2,500 for his antics.

That $2,500 hit represents less than 1% of Ortiz’s reported $300,000 salary from the fight, so don’t shed any tears for the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Bonnar’s reported salary was $100,000, according to figures released by the CSAC. You can see the rest of the Bellator 131 salaries here — though they list Melvin Manhoef and King Mo as making just $10,000 from their fights, so take those numbers with a grain of salt.

UFC 178 Salaries: Demetrious Johnson ($183K), Conor McGregor ($150K) Make Bank

Some fight fans say UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is one of the most overlooked fighters in the promotion, but his check from UFC 178 says otherwise.  Mighty Mouse walked home with a cool $183,000 after his second-round submission victory over Chris Cariaso in UFC 178′s headliner Saturday night, as Sherdog reported.  Johnson earned $129,000 […]

Some fight fans say UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is one of the most overlooked fighters in the promotion, but his check from UFC 178 says otherwise.  Mighty Mouse walked home with a cool $183,000 after his second-round submission victory over Chris Cariaso in UFC 178′s headliner Saturday night, as Sherdog reported.  Johnson earned $129,000 […]