Tag: UFC 162

UFC 162 Salary List: Silva and Edgar Lead the Pack, Weidman Not So Much


(“I got nothin’ to declare except my own f*ckin’ genius.” — Oscar Wilde / Photo via RedditMMA)

The UFC paid out $1,863,000 in disclosed salaries and performance bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at UFC 162 last weekend, with Anderson Silva‘s $600,000 check eating up nearly a third of the pay-pie. Frankie Edgar landed in second place on the salary list, with his $120,000 win bonus and $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus bringing him to a grand total of $290,000. (And for only three rounds of work, Frankie? Money for nothing, chicks for free.) But as we mentioned in yesterday’s “Superlatives” column, new middleweight champion Chris Weidman‘s check was modest by comparison. But don’t cry for the All-American — now that he has the belt, Weidman will be looking to renegotiate his contract for “Anderson Silva money.” His words, not ours.

The full UFC 162 payout list is below, via MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the numbers don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships, undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or cuts of the pay-per-view that some of the UFC’s stars are entitled to.

Chris Weidman: $98,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Anderson Silva: $600,000

Frankie Edgar: $290,000 (includes $120,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Charles Oliveira: $71,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Tim Kennedy: $90,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
Roger Gracie: $50,000


(“I got nothin’ to declare except my own f*ckin’ genius.” — Oscar Wilde / Photo via RedditMMA)

The UFC paid out $1,863,000 in disclosed salaries and performance bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at UFC 162 last weekend, with Anderson Silva‘s $600,000 check eating up nearly a third of the pay-pie. Frankie Edgar landed in second place on the salary list, with his $120,000 win bonus and $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus bringing him to a grand total of $290,000. (And for only three rounds of work, Frankie? Money for nothing, chicks for free.) But as we mentioned in yesterday’s “Superlatives” column, new middleweight champion Chris Weidman‘s check was modest by comparison. But don’t cry for the All-American — now that he has the belt, Weidman will be looking to renegotiate his contract for “Anderson Silva money.” His words, not ours.

The full UFC 162 payout list is below, via MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that the numbers don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships, undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or cuts of the pay-per-view that some of the UFC’s stars are entitled to.

Chris Weidman: $98,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus, $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Anderson Silva: $600,000

Frankie Edgar: $290,000 (includes $120,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Charles Oliveira: $71,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Tim Kennedy: $90,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
Roger Gracie: $50,000

Mark Munoz: $84,000 (includes $42,000 win bonus)
Tim Boetsch: $37,000

Cub Swanson: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Dennis Siver: $83,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)

Andrew Craig: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
Chris Leben: $51,000

Norman Parke: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
Kazuki Tokudome: $15,000

Gabriel Gonzaga: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus)
Dave Herman: $23,000

Edson Barboza: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus)
Rafaello Oliveira: $14,000

Brian Melancon: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Seth Baczynski: $16,000

Mike Pierce: $56,000 (includes $28,000 win bonus)
David Mitchell: $10,000

Underpaid: Yeah, I know you want me to say Chris Weidman, who only made $24k to show up against the Greatest Of All Time, but I’m going to reserve judgment until I see what he makes in his next fight. Keep in mind that the guy started fighting professionally just three years ago. And disclosed salaries aside, if Weidman gets points on the pay-per-view for a rematch with Anderson Silva, the dude could easily clear seven figures in his next outing. Honestly, none of the salaries were too surprising this time around, although I hope Rafaello Oliveira was well-compensated for losing a leg to Edson Barboza on short notice.

Overpaid: Collectively, the Tim Kennedy vs. Roger Gracie fight cost the UFC $140,000, and I bet Dana White is regretting that he didn’t use that money to remodel his kitchen instead. I’ll call out Gracie’s $50k check specifically — the only reason he’s earning more guaranteed money than crowd-pleasers like Cub Swanson and Gabriel Gonzaga is because of his famous last name, which was dragged through the mud once again on Saturday. One more underwhelming performance, and Gracie will wind up on the cut-list faster than you can say “super [expletive] expensive.”

UFC 162: Where Sunday’s Biggest Losers Go Moving Forward

Saturday’s UFC 162 pay-per-view was one of the better cards the company has produced in a long time, but all the headlines after the event were focused on the main event and how Anderson Silva finally lost his title to Chris Weidman.Silva wasn&rs…

Saturday’s UFC 162 pay-per-view was one of the better cards the company has produced in a long time, but all the headlines after the event were focused on the main event and how Anderson Silva finally lost his title to Chris Weidman.

Silva wasn’t the only loser Saturday, though, as many of the top names on the card came up short. Where each goes from here is imperative to their respective careers.

 

Anderson Silva

While Anderson Silva claimed immediately after his loss to new middleweight champion Chris Weidman via KO that he did not want to fight for the championship anymore, per UFC’s YouTube page, there is no doubt that the next bout for the Brazilian must be a rematch.

Weidman is still one of the freshest faces in the division, and with Silva winning 17 fights before his tough defeat Saturday—including 10 successful title defenses—White confirmed via John Morgan of MMAJunkie that he wants this rematch to happen sooner rather than later.

Whether Silva wins or loses the rematch will not impact the long-term view of his reign (he is still arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time), a second fight against Weidman is what the fans want.

Silva will realize the potential of this bout and eventually agree to the rematch.

 

Roger Gracie

When fans think about the Gracie name in the sport of mixed martial arts, it is filled with legacy and greatness. Roger Gracie did not live up to those expectations on Saturday when he was defeated by Tim Kennedy via unanimous decision.

Gracie was one of the middleweights acquired by UFC when Zuffa closed Strikeforce and was expected to make a run at Silva or whoever was the divisional champion eventually, but he lost in his very first fight with his new employer.

Now Gracie must win his second bout in the UFC.

While there are more than enough names in the middleweight division to square off against next, the right match would be against the loser of the Jacare Souza vs. Yushin Okami bout in September.

It would result in a long layoff for Gracie, but after his tough loss Saturday, that extra time may be exactly what he needs to get back to 100 percent physically and mentally.

 

Chris Leben

There was a time when Chris Leben was one of the most polarizing fighters in the sport, using his trash talking and brutal style to run right at his opponents and give the fans the thrilling fights they wanted.

At 32 years old and the recipient of a devastating split-decision loss to Andrew Craig on the preliminary card, Leben must find a great test in his next bout and come out with a convincing victory.

If he doesn’t, Leben will be looked at as nothing more than a divisional gatekeeper.

Another fighter in Leben’s boat is veteran Tim Boetsch. With both fighters handed a defeat Saturday and their careers going nowhere fast, White should make this bout happen with the caveat that the loser will be let go by the company.

That would raise the stakes on this potential in-ring war.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 162: Chris Leben Becomes 1st Fighter to Receive Exemption for Suboxone

While the topic of testosterone replacement therapy and exemptions for it were not a focal point following UFC 162, Chris Leben created a little bit of history for receiving a different exemption.According to Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie, Leben became…

While the topic of testosterone replacement therapy and exemptions for it were not a focal point following UFC 162, Chris Leben created a little bit of history for receiving a different exemption.

According to Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie, Leben became the first fighter to receive an exemption for the prescription opioid medicine Suboxone. The drug is typically used as a replacement therapy for people with a narcotic dependency; something Leben has struggled with in the past.

In 2011, Leben tested positive for oxycodone and oxymorphone following a loss to Mark Munoz at UFC 138. That caused the UFC to suspend the former TUF star for a year. It would be the second time the UFC had to take action against Leben. The UFC also suspended him after he tested positive for the synthetic anabolic stanozolol in October 2008.

Leben also had a driving under the influence incident back in 2010 that all but derailed any momentum he had gained after winning three straight in the Octagon.

The hard-hitting southpaw has done everything he can to maintain his sobriety. Leben admitted to attending rehab for an addiction to prescription painkillers and counted 15 months of sobriety. He also moved from his longtime residence of Hawaii to Southern California.

A guy who has struggled with his addiction on a national stage for much of his career, Leben is using his addictive personality in a positive way these days, per John Morgan of MMA Junkie:

“I’m a creature of excess – everything in excess and nothing in moderation,” Leben said. “That’s kind of been my motto for life. So this health thing, and this energy I have, I’m getting addicted to that. It’s a complete rebirth.”

Leben must be in a better place now if he can manage to joke about his prior troubles.

“Well didn’t get the comeback story, but i promise you there will be no relapse story. Gonna stay strong & continue on the path,” he wrote on Twitter following his UFC 162 loss.

Leben‘s skill and ability may be deteriorating inside the cage but at least his willpower and determination to stay clean is going strong outside of it.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Anderson Silva Would Be Wise to Avoid Immediate Rematch with Chris Weidman

There are a lot of appealing fights for Anderson Silva to take after his stunning UFC 162 loss to Chris Weidman—a rematch with the new middleweight champion isn’t one of them. Prior to losing to Weidman via second-round knockout in Saturday’…

There are a lot of appealing fights for Anderson Silva to take after his stunning UFC 162 loss to Chris Weidman—a rematch with the new middleweight champion isn’t one of them. 

Prior to losing to Weidman via second-round knockout in Saturday’s title fight, Silva had won a record-setting 10 consecutive title defenses and 16 fights in the UFC. Now, he’s without the title for the first time in seven years. 

The obvious fight that the fans want is a rematch with Weidman. 

Even though taunting and fighting with his hands down is par for the course with Silva, the fact that he was knocked out with his hands down leads many to believe that things could be different in a rematch. 

That very well could be. Silva is still one of the top fighters in the sport. One loss doesn’t change that.

However, if Silva’s statement in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan are to be believed, “The Spider” has no plans to rematch Weidman—or even challenge for the belt. 

 

On the surface, turning down a rematch doesn’t make a lot of sense. As fans, we’d like to think that the championship belt is what fighters fight for—even if the reality is that money is the ultimate motivator. 

For Silva, it’s understandable that getting the belt back might not be priority No. 1. He’s held the championship for seven years and defended it more than anyone. Coming off that kind of title reign, there’s no real purpose to trying to get it back immediately. 

If Silva’s goals are to retain as much power over his matchmaking while remaining one of the UFC’s biggest attractions, he would be wise to avoid the belt. 

By granting Weidman a rematch, Silva would lose one of those two valuable assets to the rest of his career. 

Should Silva prove that he can come back and beat Weidman with a game plan that includes a little less hands-down taunting, his ability to pursue fights outside of his division will be restricted. After all, Silva didn’t want to fight Weidman in the first place.

As Dana White told MMA Junkie, Silva hasn’t always been enthusiastic about the title challengers that the UFC puts in front of him:

This is typical Anderson Silva-Ed Soares craziness. Every [expletive] time there’s a fight, he wants to fight “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Then he wants to fight this guy and that guy. It’s always the same deal. It always happen. “I absolutely will not fight Chael Sonnen. He doesn’t deserve the title.” This is what we do.

So if it seemed like Silva was almost relieved that he no longer held the belt after his loss to Weidman, that may be why. He’s now much more likely to have his way in negotiating his next opponent. 

On the flip side, if Silva fights Weidman again and loses, that would be devastating to his status as one of the UFC’s biggest draws. 

Regardless of how great a fighter may have been throughout their career, it only take a few losses to lose that drawing power. Even great champions like Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn were no longer great draws by the end of their career after losing multiple fights. 

Back-to-back losses against a fighter in Weidman who wasn’t exactly a star before his upset victory and Silva’s career as a pay-per-view stud would suffer all the more. 

At this point, Silva would be better off to take whatever fights he’d like against the likes of Cung Le, Michael Bisping, anyone in the 205-pound weight class or even Roy Jones Jr., but a fight against Weidman would be a lose-lose situation for the 38-year-old. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 162 Results: Rebound Fights for Pay-Per-View Card’s Losers

UFC 162 may have produced some ecstatic winners from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it saw just as many fighters walk away going back to the drawing board after a disappointing loss. Anderson Silva, Charles Oliveira and Tim Boetsch w…

UFC 162 may have produced some ecstatic winners from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, but it saw just as many fighters walk away going back to the drawing board after a disappointing loss. 

Anderson Silva, Charles Oliveira and Tim Boetsch were among those that were unable to get their hand raised as they were on the wrong end of impressive performances from their opponents. 

While a loss hurts, it isn’t the end of the world. Each of Saturday night’s biggest losers will have the opportunity to win again and repair their stock as they try to mount another climb up the divisional ladder. 

Here’s a look at each of the main card’s losers and a potential fight for them to take next. 

 

Dennis Siver Loses to Cub Swanson via Third-Round TKO

Where it Went Wrong

Dennis Siver became the latest featherweight to fall victim to Cub Swanson as he was finished in the third round by way of TKO. 

Siver actually had his moments in the fight despite small underdog status. He scored a takedown in the first round and controlled Swanson to take the opening frame. However, he faded as the fight wore on and was caught by Swanson’s dynamic striking. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Charles Oliveira

Both Siver and Oliveira were unable to pull off upsets at UFC 162, so why not put them in the Octagon and see who can get back in the win column?

Oliveira lost a unanimous decision to former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in the night’s co-main event but showed that he’s ready to take on established fighters in the division. 

Siver would have the opportunity to showcase his abilities against a much-less dynamic threat on the feet, while Oliveira gets another opportunity to shoot up the rankings. 

 

Tim Boetsch Loses to Mark Munoz via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Boetsch was another fighter who got off to a good start before fading down the stretch. Coming off of a third-round TKO loss to Costa Philippou, “The Barbarian” needed a strong performance—and this wasn’t it. 

Boetsch and Munoz engaged in a close technical grappling match in the first round, but Rounds 2 and 3 belonged to the Filipino Wrecking Machine. Coming back from nearly a year away from the Octagon, he was back in full form.

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Chris Camozzi

Boetsch now has two losses in a row, so his next fight is going to be a real must-win situation. That means a step down in competition. Camozzi is coming off of a submission loss to Jacare Souza at UFC on FX Belfort vs. Rockhold in Brazil and isn’t currently ranked in the top 10 of the division.

Camozzi is dangerous enough to challenge Boetsch; he’s still 4-1 in his past five fights. But he’s a nice step down from Philippou and Munoz. 

 

Roger Gracie Loses to Tim Kennedy via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Gracie’s UFC debut couldn’t have gone much worse.

The Strikeforce veteran was able to secure two takedowns in the three-round fight but landed just 12 significant strikes, per FightMetric. That’s just four strikes per round. 

Kennedy didn’t look all that great in the win, and the fight was definitely the most uneventful bout on the main card. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: A Facebook Prelim Near You

Cutting Gracie may be a little premature. He was good enough to warrant a pay-per-view slot in his debut, and we have yet to see how far Tim Kennedy can go in the middleweight division. However, he’s going to need to prove he can entertain if he’s going to be on TV again. 

The best bet to see if he can get back on track would be a Facebook prelim fight against an up-and-comer making his promotional debut. 

 

Charles Oliveira Loses to Frankie Edgar via Unanimous Decision

Where it Went Wrong

Oliveira was a big underdog coming into his fight against Edgar. But he did an admirable job of holding his own against the former lightweight champion. 

Edgar was much quicker than Oliveira, consistently landing good boxing combinations while moving out of Oliveira‘s range. It was clear his takedown defense needs to improve as well; Edgar completed two of five takedown attempts en route to the win. 

Despite those shortcomings, “do Bronx” had his moments and even rocked Edgar a few times. At 23 years old, the loss should be seen as more of a learning experience than a setback. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Dennis Siver

By fighting Siver next, Oliveira would get to show if he can take what he learned from losing to Edgar by taking on another technical featherweight. 

 

Anderson Silva Loses to Chris Weidman via Second-Round Knockout

Where it Went Wrong

You know the narrative by now. 

The longest-reigning champion in UFC history’s title reign came to an end as Chris Weidman landed the punch heard ’round the world and sent Silva crashing to the canvas. Silva’s tactics of dropping his hands and goading opponents into attacking has worked in the past, but it eventually caught up to him. 

Now he must fight as a challenger in his next bout for the first time in seven years. 

 

Potential Rebound Fight: Rematch with Chris Weidman

Despite Silva’s comments after the bout on not wanting a rematch, Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reports that Dana White is already trying to figure out a date for the rematch between the two. 

While Silva may have denied interest in a rematch initially, he hasn’t lost in seven years. His mind could easily change when he sees the potential money that would come from a rematch against the champion. 

Silva didn’t want to fight Weidman before their first fight either, preferring to take on Cung Le instead. It’s likely Dana White will be able to convince Silva to reconsider this time around as well. 

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UFC Rankings for Each Weight Division Following UFC 162

Following UFC 162, Anderson Silva finds himself in an unfamiliar position. For the first time in seven years, the Brazilian middleweight is not looking down on the entire 185-pound division.While Silva’s antics in Saturday’s championship bout with Chri…

Following UFC 162, Anderson Silva finds himself in an unfamiliar position. For the first time in seven years, the Brazilian middleweight is not looking down on the entire 185-pound division.

While Silva’s antics in Saturday’s championship bout with Chris Weidman have been a point of debate, “The Spider” fell by doing some of the same things that earned him elite status. Silva has always gotten away with dodging punches despite carrying his hands at his side, but Weidman caught him with a left hook and ended the greatest title reign in UFC history.

Heading into this past weekend, Silva was almost unanimously considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. So, needless to say, his first UFC loss has shaken up the rankings. 

With UFC 162 in the books and UFC on Fox 8 ahead, let’s take a look at the latest official UFC rankings. 

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