As a hugely successful year for the UFC draws to a close, it’s time to reveal who the highest paid stars were in the Octagon in 2016. In a year when the UFC was sold for a staggering $4.2 billion – the largest single franchise sale in sporting history – business has been booming for the
As a hugely successful year for the UFC draws to a close, it’s time to reveal who the highest paid stars were in the Octagon in 2016.
In a year when the UFC was sold for a staggering $4.2 billion – the largest single franchise sale in sporting history – business has been booming for the promotion, with pay-per-view records being broken, several shows doing over one million buys and the state of New York finally being opened up as a lucrative new market.
The UFC’s biggest stars have also been able to cash in, with the record for the largest basic salary for a single fight having been shattered on several occasions and all 10 fighters on this list having made at least a seven-figure sum, though the general feeling is that fighters are still being underpaid, leading to increased discussion of unionization in the final months of the year.
Truth be told, it’s not possible to know exactly how much any fighter made in the past 12 months, as many avenues for fighters to boost their earnings are not publicly disclosed.
For instance, UFC champions are entitled to a cut of any pay-per-view event that they are part of, which could prove to be the lion’s share of their earnings for a successful show, but since the promotion doesn’t disclose it’s PPV numbers, any attempt to put a figure on this would be purely speculation.
On top of that, fighters will generally have other undisclosed income from things like sponsorship and endorsement deals outside of the Octagon, media work, TV and movie opportunities, seminars, etc.
With that in mind, the focus on this article will be on what we can say for certain that fighters earned in 2016 via their disclosed income from the UFC. That includes their basic salary as well as any fight night bonuses they may have won and Reebok sponsorship money that they are entitled to on a per-fight basis.
So, without further ado, let’s count down the top 10 best paid UFC stars in 2016.
10. Dominick Cruz: $1,020,000
Having only fought once in the previous four years, Dominick Cruz finally put his injury woes behind him in 2016 and fought a total of three times.
His initial title-winning fight against TJ Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 81 in January saw him take home a $110,000 basic salary, but that then jumped to $350,000, win or lose, for his next two fights a champion.
Cruz also took home two $50,000 ‘Fight Of The Night’ bonuses this year, and earned a further $110,000 in Reebok sponsorship money to just edge out his fellow FOX Sports 1 analyst Michael Bisping ($990,000) as the 10th best paid star of the year.
With a number of record-setting events and growth, 2016 was definitely a year to be remembered in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). The sport blasted into the mainstream like it never has before thanks in large to the never-ending media coverage granted to dual weight champion Conor McGregor, whose rivalry with Nate Diaz will
With a number of record-setting events and growth, 2016 was definitely a year to be remembered in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA).
The sport blasted into the mainstream like it never has before thanks in large to the never-ending media coverage granted to dual weight champion Conor McGregor, whose rivalry with Nate Diaz will most certainly go down as one of the most storied ever. And of course “The Notorious” followed up his rebound win over Diaz with a lightweight title-winning knockout of Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, so it’s tough to pick anyone but the popular Irishman; yet he also lost a fight and 2016 also featured so much more from the other fighters on the roster.
For example, Dominick Cruz came back from the worst streak of injuries the UFC has ever seen to win back his bantamweight title from T.J. Dillashaw before defending it against Dillashaw’s onetime friend and mentor Urijah Faber at UFC 199. Also at that event, Michael Bisping shocked the world with his first-round knockout of Luke Rockhold to win the middleweight title. Add that to “The Count’s” close wins over Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, and the brash Brit is certainly a top contender.
Pound-for-pound ruler Demetrious Johnson also extended his streak of title defenses at 125 pounds by two. Welterweight champ Tyron Woodley stormed back with a first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in July only to retain his title in a thrilling bout with Stephen Thompson at UFC 205. As for “Wonderboy,” he’s a contender for the award with three huge bouts against three champions throughout the year.
Amanda Nunes surprised everyone by destroying Miesha Tate to win the women’s 135-pound belt at UFC 200. Heavyweight champion cut a quiet path of dominance through the UFC’s biggest division by knocking out Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, and Alistair Overeem for a monumental 2016.
It was an absolutely insane year for MMA in 2016, so it’s hard to pick one clear-cut winner for the best fighter. Who is your pick?
With today being the Christmas holiday, several UFC champions and past stars have checked in via social media with special holiday messages.
Featured below are tweets and Instagram posts from many UFC personalities, including reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley, UFC Hall Of Famer “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk and more.
Happy Holidays from the staff here at MMANews.com!
With today being the Christmas holiday, several UFC champions and past stars have checked in via social media with special holiday messages.
Featured below are tweets and Instagram posts from many UFC personalities, including reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley, UFC Hall Of Famer “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna J?drzejczyk and more.
Happy Holidays from the staff here at MMANews.com!
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has a tendency to set up his next fight while he is already in the midst of promoting another, and that was no different last month in New York City from Madison Square Garden. Although McGregor had a tough task ahead of him in the form of then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez,
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has a tendency to set up his next fight while he is already in the midst of promoting another, and that was no different last month in New York City from Madison Square Garden.
Although McGregor had a tough task ahead of him in the form of then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, that didn’t stop ‘The Notorious One’ from setting up a possible welterweight title bout with Tyron Woodley down the road. During the early weigh-ins for the New York card McGregor and Woodley had a brief encounter that later escalated into a verbal war on both Twitter and at the late weigh-ins backstage.
McGregor would go on to defeat Alvarez via second round knockout, while Woodley and his opponent, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, would go to a majority draw that resulted in a title retain for ‘The Chosen One’. Both men have expressed interest in fighting one another since the conclusion of the Madison Square Garden event, but Woodley took it to a whole other level during the most recent edition of his YouTube series ‘The Champ Life’ (courtesy of MMA Fighting):
“When he got in my face and I looked at him I said, ‘what’s up?’ At that moment he realized I ain’t that dude. I’m really about that life. I’m really from that life. My family is from that life. I’m actually one of the sharper tools in the box that haven’t been in the streets like that but I have family members, close loved ones, that that’s all they know. So I’ve been around that a lot and I try not to take myself back to those dark areas, I try to stay sophisticated, stay professional but a few people can take you out of that element and bring that Ferguson back out of you and he almost did it. But I had to keep my eyes on the prize, defend my strap in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 205.
“Now that we got that done – that’s off the table – if Conor want it he can get it. He knows how to get in touch with Dana [White, UFC President], he knows how to get the contract set, and he really don’t want to fight. I’m not saying he should want to fight because I’m not a little dude. I ain’t Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is not a welterweight. He did not do well at welterweight because he was undersized and these dudes are real gorillas in this weight class.”
Woodley would proceed to warn ‘Mystic Mac’ of the repercussions of moving up dramatically in weight, which included facing men with ‘real power’, as well as threatening to rip the Irish champ’s head off and spew his blood across the Octagon’s canvas:
“If him and his coach John Kavanagh and everybody think that Conor can do well against me and they gas this dude up – you know, he’s a dope fighter but there’s levels to this. When you start going up, it’s like me going up to 205 and challenging guys at that weight. When you come up to this weight brother, it’s real power, it’s real people that will put real hands on you, that’ll put you down to the canvas and you will not get up unless I let you up.
“So if you want to get in there with a lion and get your head bit off and have me spewing your blood all over the octagon while you’ve got that goofy tiger tattoo on your chest, looking like a clown with a clown on your chest, we can do it. We can do it in Ireland, Dublin, we can do it in the back of White Castle, I don’t care. But just know, I ain’t that guy. I don’t like to try and act overly hood or overly ghetto, a million hood stripes, but where I’m from you don’t call me a bitch, number one. Number two, you don’t fake like you’re about that life. If you want to scrap, if you want to make this money, let’s do it. If you don’t, shut your mouth. Just do your thing.”
‘The Chosen One’ remains adamant that he isn’t trying to build his name off of McGregor, but instead has a few other names in mind that he’d like to throw down with in order to help solidify himself as one of the greatest combatants at 170 pounds.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t capitalize on the opportunity if it just so happens to present itself:
“I want you guys to realize this about me, I’m not one of those guys that’s trying to position myself off Conor. I actually got no beef with Conor. He doing his thing, he’s getting what he want to get out of the game and I’m getting what I wanna get out of the game. But it’s a few people that you can step to with that BS and it can slide, I just so happen to not be one of those guys.
“I ain’t trying to build myself off Conor. I’ve got legendary ideas about my career. I want to be a great. There’s about four or five more people I’ve got to beat to solidify that position and that’s my focus and that’s my goal. If he wants to be a stumbling block that gets me to there faster, so be it.”
McGregor is no stranger to competing in the UFC’s welterweight division, as his mini-rivalry with Nate Diaz took place at 170 pounds over a span of six months. The lightweight champ has noticeably bulked up quite a bit since his days at 145 pounds, but is the increased muscle mass enough to allow him to hold his own against the elite of the welterweight division?
You can check out Woodley’s ‘The Champ Life’ episode in which he talks about McGregor here:
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has a tendency to set up his next fight while he is already in the midst of promoting another, and that was no different last month in New York City from Madison Square Garden. Although McGregor had a tough task ahead of him in the form of then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez,
UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has a tendency to set up his next fight while he is already in the midst of promoting another, and that was no different last month in New York City from Madison Square Garden.
Although McGregor had a tough task ahead of him in the form of then-lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, that didn’t stop ‘The Notorious One’ from setting up a possible welterweight title bout with Tyron Woodley down the road. During the early weigh-ins for the New York card McGregor and Woodley had a brief encounter that later escalated into a verbal war on both Twitter and at the late weigh-ins backstage.
McGregor would go on to defeat Alvarez via second round knockout, while Woodley and his opponent, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, would go to a majority draw that resulted in a title retain for ‘The Chosen One’. Both men have expressed interest in fighting one another since the conclusion of the Madison Square Garden event, but Woodley took it to a whole other level during the most recent edition of his YouTube series ‘The Champ Life’ (courtesy of MMA Fighting):
“When he got in my face and I looked at him I said, ‘what’s up?’ At that moment he realized I ain’t that dude. I’m really about that life. I’m really from that life. My family is from that life. I’m actually one of the sharper tools in the box that haven’t been in the streets like that but I have family members, close loved ones, that that’s all they know. So I’ve been around that a lot and I try not to take myself back to those dark areas, I try to stay sophisticated, stay professional but a few people can take you out of that element and bring that Ferguson back out of you and he almost did it. But I had to keep my eyes on the prize, defend my strap in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 205.
“Now that we got that done – that’s off the table – if Conor want it he can get it. He knows how to get in touch with Dana [White, UFC President], he knows how to get the contract set, and he really don’t want to fight. I’m not saying he should want to fight because I’m not a little dude. I ain’t Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is not a welterweight. He did not do well at welterweight because he was undersized and these dudes are real gorillas in this weight class.”
Woodley would proceed to warn ‘Mystic Mac’ of the repercussions of moving up dramatically in weight, which included facing men with ‘real power’, as well as threatening to rip the Irish champ’s head off and spew his blood across the Octagon’s canvas:
“If him and his coach John Kavanagh and everybody think that Conor can do well against me and they gas this dude up – you know, he’s a dope fighter but there’s levels to this. When you start going up, it’s like me going up to 205 and challenging guys at that weight. When you come up to this weight brother, it’s real power, it’s real people that will put real hands on you, that’ll put you down to the canvas and you will not get up unless I let you up.
“So if you want to get in there with a lion and get your head bit off and have me spewing your blood all over the octagon while you’ve got that goofy tiger tattoo on your chest, looking like a clown with a clown on your chest, we can do it. We can do it in Ireland, Dublin, we can do it in the back of White Castle, I don’t care. But just know, I ain’t that guy. I don’t like to try and act overly hood or overly ghetto, a million hood stripes, but where I’m from you don’t call me a bitch, number one. Number two, you don’t fake like you’re about that life. If you want to scrap, if you want to make this money, let’s do it. If you don’t, shut your mouth. Just do your thing.”
‘The Chosen One’ remains adamant that he isn’t trying to build his name off of McGregor, but instead has a few other names in mind that he’d like to throw down with in order to help solidify himself as one of the greatest combatants at 170 pounds.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t capitalize on the opportunity if it just so happens to present itself:
“I want you guys to realize this about me, I’m not one of those guys that’s trying to position myself off Conor. I actually got no beef with Conor. He doing his thing, he’s getting what he want to get out of the game and I’m getting what I wanna get out of the game. But it’s a few people that you can step to with that BS and it can slide, I just so happen to not be one of those guys.
“I ain’t trying to build myself off Conor. I’ve got legendary ideas about my career. I want to be a great. There’s about four or five more people I’ve got to beat to solidify that position and that’s my focus and that’s my goal. If he wants to be a stumbling block that gets me to there faster, so be it.”
McGregor is no stranger to competing in the UFC’s welterweight division, as his mini-rivalry with Nate Diaz took place at 170 pounds over a span of six months. The lightweight champ has noticeably bulked up quite a bit since his days at 145 pounds, but is the increased muscle mass enough to allow him to hold his own against the elite of the welterweight division?
You can check out Woodley’s ‘The Champ Life’ episode in which he talks about McGregor here:
2016 is coming to a close, and another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) competition will soon be in the books. This year has given us some great memories in fighting; some historic, some spectacular, and some just plain amazing. One of the most exciting parts of MMA are the vicious knockouts fans tune in to
2016 is coming to a close, and another year of mixed martial arts (MMA) competition will soon be in the books. This year has given us some great memories in fighting; some historic, some spectacular, and some just plain amazing.
One of the most exciting parts of MMA are the vicious knockouts fans tune in to see every week, and 2016 has presented plenty highlight reel KOs that we’ll never forget.
To commemorate those bouts, we’ve compiled a list of the best knockouts that we’ve seen this year, so let’s dive into LowKick’s top 10 MMA knockouts of 2016….
12. Paige VanZant vs. Bec Rawlings
Following her fifth-round submission loss to Rose Namajunas in December of last year, Paige VanZant took a little break from mixed martial arts (MMA) competition to compete in the 22nd season of Dancing With The Stars.
After finishing the competition as the runner-up, VanZant made her return to fighting action against Bec Rawlings, who was coming in off of a two-fight win streak that included a submission win over Lisa Ellis.
VanZant opened up the second round of her bout with Rawlings with a flashy maneuver that would land and send the Vancouver crowed into a frenzy, as the Team Alpha Male star landed a flush jumping head kick on Rawlings and finished her off with a few punches.
The jaw-dropping knockout earned VanZant her seventh professional win of her MMA career, and No. 12 on our list of top knockouts of 2016.