UFC Fight Night 89 went down last night (June 18, 2016) live on FOX Sports 1 from Ottawa, Canada, and the event produced an exciting night of fights featuring multiple electrifying finishes. In the co-main event of the evening, fan favorite and former lightweight title challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone picked up an impressive third round
UFC Fight Night 89 went down last night (June 18, 2016) live on FOX Sports 1 from Ottawa, Canada, and the event produced an exciting night of fights featuring multiple electrifying finishes.
In the co-main event of the evening, fan favorite and former lightweight title challenger Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone picked up an impressive third round finish over the larger Patrick Cote in a welterweight bout. “Cowboy” was given a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his efforts.
Earlier on the main card, Canadian Steve Bosse and Sean O’Connell went to war in a three round slug fest that saw each man battered and bloodied. Each man put it all on the line, but Bosse ended up walking away with a unanimous decision victory. Both combatants received a $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus for their efforts.
During the preliminary portion of the card, Krzysztof Jotko landed a brutal left hand on Tamdan McCroy that shut the lights off for McCroy in under a minute. Jotko was awarded a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for his knockout.
Stay tuned to LowKickMMA for all of your post fight coverage.
Michael Bisping has shocked the world. Taking his 26th fight on just over two weeks notice, the long-time middleweight veteran in Bisping upset Luke Rockhold in the first round of the main event at UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, knocking Rockhold out cold. Not only did Bisping finally attain the UFC middleweight
Taking his 26th fight on just over two weeks notice, the long-time middleweight veteran in Bisping upset Luke Rockhold in the first round of the main event at UFC 199 from The Forum in Inglewood, California, knocking Rockhold out cold.
Not only did Bisping finally attain the UFC middleweight title, but he also received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.
Earlier on the main card, ageing veteran Dan “Hendo” Henderson scored a spectacular stoppage victory over Hector Lombard in a bout many thought he would lose as well. The former Olympian was also given a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” Bonus for his efforts.
The opener of the UFC Fight Pass prelims actually took home the “Fight of the Night” honors as Polo Reyes and Dong Hyun Kim went back and forth in an exciting three round affair. In the end, Reyes got the job done via a TKO. Both men were awarded $50,000.
Stay tuned to LowKickMMA for all of your post fight coverage.
UFC Fight Night 86 went down earlier today (April 10, 2016) from Croatia, and it turned out to be a highly entertaining card filled with a tremendous amount of action. The co-main event saw one of the evening’s best finishes as rising heavyweight contender Derrick “Black Beast” Lewis smashed Gabriel Gonzaga in the very first
UFC Fight Night 86 went down earlier today (April 10, 2016) from Croatia, and it turned out to be a highly entertaining card filled with a tremendous amount of action.
The co-main event saw one of the evening’s best finishes as rising heavyweight contender Derrick “Black Beast” Lewis smashed Gabriel Gonzaga in the very first round, scoring an impressive TKO victory.
Lewis also received a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” Bonus.
Alejandro Perez picked up a slick submission victory over Ian Entwistle on the preliminary portion of the card, also banking a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” Bonus.
Prior to Perez’s finish, lethal striker Mairbek Taisumov bulldozed through Damir Hadzovic to secure a first round knockout victory, as well as his own $50,000 “Performance of the Night” Bonus.
The fourth and final $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus was given to Jared Cannonier for his breathtaking TKO over Cyril Asker on the Fight Pass prelims.
Stay tuned to LowKickMMA for all of your post fight coverage.
After almost every UFC event, the UFC will hold a post-fight press conference. One of the first things mentioned at these get-togethers are the winners of the Fight Night Bonuses. These $50,000 pay-bumps are (usually) handed out to four fighters per event: Two combatants take home Performance of the Night awards, and the individuals that were deemed to have the best fight on the card take home Fight of the Night.
Performance bonuses are a nice little perk that the UFC hands out. However, much like that fuzzy block of cheese in the back of the refrigerator, they may have reached their expiration date.
On a recent edition of the Co-Main Event Podcast, host Chad Dundas suggested that the UFC do away with Fight Night bonuses, and instead use those funds to provide a monthly stipend to every fighter on the UFC roster. Not only is this a good idea, it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the right time for the UFC to do it.
The last time a proposal such as this was floated, it was UFC president Dana White that offered up the suggestion. Ignoring the fact that the majority of the 500 plus fighters on the UFC roster are underpaid as professional athletes, White puffed out his chest, and focused on “the lower level guys,” telling the Las Vegas Sun, “(Expletive) yeah, it could happen (doing away with Fight Night bonuses). That’s what I’m thinking about doing. All the (expletive) lower-level guys think they need their money boosted. Everyone thinks it’s not enough money, so that’s easy to do.”
It was not surprising that many UFC fighters balked at the idea as presented by the bombastic UFC chieftain, and White gladly returned to the status quo.
It was a predictable outcome because it pitted UFC newcomers against long tenured and established fighters. White used a basic dirty management style when he floated the idea, pitting the two factions against each other. Since the UFC veterans outnumber the promotional newbies it was a foregone conclusion that the idea would fail to gain traction.
(Would veteran bonus-grabbers like Joe Lauzon [right] give up their extra cash to help the little guy? / Photo via Getty)
After almost every UFC event, the UFC will hold a post-fight press conference. One of the first things mentioned at these get-togethers are the winners of the Fight Night Bonuses. These $50,000 pay-bumps are (usually) handed out to four fighters per event: Two combatants take home Performance of the Night awards, and the individuals that were deemed to have the best fight on the card take home Fight of the Night.
Performance bonuses are a nice little perk that the UFC hands out. However, much like that fuzzy block of cheese in the back of the refrigerator, they may have reached their expiration date.
On a recent edition of the Co-Main Event Podcast, host Chad Dundas suggested that the UFC do away with Fight Night bonuses, and instead use those funds to provide a monthly stipend to every fighter on the UFC roster. Not only is this a good idea, it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the right time for the UFC to do it.
The last time a proposal such as this was floated, it was UFC president Dana White that offered up the suggestion. Ignoring the fact that the majority of the 500 plus fighters on the UFC roster are underpaid as professional athletes, White puffed out his chest, and focused on “the lower level guys,” telling the Las Vegas Sun, “(Expletive) yeah, it could happen (doing away with Fight Night bonuses). That’s what I’m thinking about doing. All the (expletive) lower-level guys think they need their money boosted. Everyone thinks it’s not enough money, so that’s easy to do.”
It was not surprising that many UFC fighters balked at the idea as presented by the bombastic UFC chieftain, and White gladly returned to the status quo.
It was a predictable outcome because it pitted UFC newcomers against long tenured and established fighters. White used a basic dirty management style when he floated the idea, pitting the two factions against each other. Since the UFC veterans outnumber the promotional newbies it was a foregone conclusion that the idea would fail to gain traction.
Dundas’s idea, unlike White’s, shares the wealth across the entire roster, a much easier sell.
Doing the math on the 47 fight cards the UFC scheduled for 2014, the Fight Night bonus budget is a healthy $9.4 million. If you divide that equally across the approximately 500 fighters on the UFC roster, that equals almost $19,000 per fighter over the course of a year. The salary is the equivalent of a $9 an hour full-time job. Not great, but it’s better than nothing, and it would be guaranteed income as long as the fighter remained an active part of the UFC roster.
If you make that a weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly paycheck, it becomes even more attractive for the fighters. That stipend would help cover some of the expenses a full time professional mixed martial artist incurs.
If you think those expenses are insubstantial, I point you to the comments of John Cholish and Tim Kennedy, who both broke down the huge costs associated with being a professional fighter. For Cholish, a fight night purse of $8,000 amounted to an estimated loss of $6,000 for the fight he broke down. Meanwhile, Kennedy revealed that approximately 59 percent of his pre-tax fight earnings are earmarked for somewhere other than his bank account. A monthly stipend, generated by the Fight Night bonuses that benefit a lucky and arbitrarily chosen few, would clearly benefit each and every fighter on the UFC roster.
As an added bonus of this stipend, fighters would not be forced to accept the crumbs offered by some sponsors. In fact, if fighters weren’t so desperate for any amount of sponsorship money they could be pickier about the sponsors they represent, and the cost of sponsorship may actually rise over time.
The much discussed, but never publically disclosed locker room bonuses would remain in effect in this scenario. Well, that is to say it would remain in effect barring any vindictive moves from the UFC.
There’s no doubt that some fighters will still balk at this idea; Joe Lauzon and Donald Cerrone immediately come to mind. However, the fact is that sometimes the individual has to take a small hit to serve the greater good. It may be a tough pill to swallow for some, but it’s a pill that will serve the sport and those who are trying to make living inside the Octagon in the present, as well as the future.
(Dominick Cruz made $2,459.02 per second for his 61-second destruction of Takeya Mizugaki. / Photo via Getty)
The UFC paid out $1,433,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at UFC 178, with seven of those fighters comfortably landing in six-figure territory. Leading the list is — you guessed it — Conor McGregor, who tacked on $125,000 in bonuses to his already respectable show-money, for a grand total of 200 large. The second-biggest check went to UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who gets paid under a quirky “$129k to show, $54k to win” arrangement.
The full list of disclosed payouts is below, along with our usual underpaid/overpaid picks. Note that these figures do not include additional revenue from sponsorships, undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or percentages of pay-per-view revenue that certain UFC stars are entitled to.
Demetrious Johnson: $183,000 (includes $54,000 win bonus) Chris Cariaso: $24,000
Donald Cerrone: $126,000 (includes $63,000 win bonus) Eddie Alvarez: $100,000
Conor McGregor: $200,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.) Dustin Poirier: $34,000
Yoel Romero: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Tim Kennedy: $120,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
(Dominick Cruz made $2,459.02 per second for his 61-second destruction of Takeya Mizugaki. / Photo via Getty)
The UFC paid out $1,433,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at UFC 178, with seven of those fighters comfortably landing in six-figure territory. Leading the list is — you guessed it — Conor McGregor, who tacked on $125,000 in bonuses to his already respectable show-money, for a grand total of 200 large. The second-biggest check went to UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who gets paid under a quirky “$129k to show, $54k to win” arrangement.
The full list of disclosed payouts is below, along with our usual underpaid/overpaid picks. Note that these figures do not include additional revenue from sponsorships, undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or percentages of pay-per-view revenue that certain UFC stars are entitled to.
Demetrious Johnson: $183,000 (includes $54,000 win bonus) Chris Cariaso: $24,000
Donald Cerrone: $126,000 (includes $63,000 win bonus) Eddie Alvarez: $100,000
Conor McGregor: $200,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus.) Dustin Poirier: $34,000
Yoel Romero: $108,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Tim Kennedy: $120,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: If you made a list of the most impressive performances at UFC 178, Cat Zingano elbowing Amanda Nunes’s face off would probably round out the top 5. And yet, the women’s bantamweight #1 contender didn’t even crack $20,000 in the official payouts. Conor McGregor and Demetrious Johnson made over ten times the disclosed money that Zingano did on Saturday. Granted, Cat Zingano is neither an “international superstar” nor a UFC champion, but still, you’d expect a PPV main-carder to get more guaranteed cash than Kevin friggin’ Lee. Don’t worry, we’ve already sent a very strongly-worded letter to NOW.
Overpaid: I still feel salty about Yoel Romero cheating his way to $79,000 in bonuses. (Yeah, yeah, it’s not his fault, blame the officiating, if you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t tryin’, etc.) Also, Brian Ebersole and John Howard collectively made $63,000 for their prelim fight, when they should have instead been given a can of Porn ‘n’ Beans to share and bus tickets back home. That fight sucked, is what I’m saying.
(Cormier spent more on Popeye’s delivery that night than Durkins made for getting his ass kicked. / Props: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports, via MMAJunkie)
Ronda Rousey ($110,000, including $55,000 win bonus and $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
def. Sara McMann ($16,000)
Daniel Cormier ($160,000, including $80,000 win bonus)
def. Patrick Cummins ($8,000)
Rory MacDonald ($150,000, including $50,000 win bonus and $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Demian Maia ($114,000, including $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
(Cormier spent more on Popeye’s delivery that night than Durkins made for getting his ass kicked. / Props: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports, via MMAJunkie)
Ronda Rousey ($110,000, including $55,000 win bonus and $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
def. Sara McMann ($16,000)
Daniel Cormier ($160,000, including $80,000 win bonus)
def. Patrick Cummins ($8,000)
Rory MacDonald ($150,000, including $50,000 win bonus and $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Demian Maia ($114,000, including $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Mike Pyle ($96,000, including $48,000 win bonus)
def. T.J. Waldburger ($18,000)
Stephen Thompson ($78,000, including $14,000 win bonus and $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus)
def. Robert Whittaker ($15,000)
Alexis Davis ($30,000, including $15,000 win bonus)
def. Jessica Eye ($8,000)
Raphael Assunção ($56,000, including $28,000 win bonus)
def. Pedro Muhnoz ($8,000)
Erik Koch ($30,000, including $15,000 win bonus)
def. Rafaello Oliveira ($14,000)
Ernest Chavez ($16,000, including $8,000 win bonus)
def. Yosdenis Cedeno ($8,000)
Not sure if underpaid or overpaid: Let’s be real, Patrick Cummins could have been killed in there. On the other hand, would you rather take a 79-second ass-whuppin’ from Daniel Cormier, or work for 800 hours in a coffee shop making hot drinks for assholes at $10/hour? Cummins got an opportunity that most up-and-coming fighters would probably take for free, sadly.
I’d say that Cummins is “not ready for the UFC” at this point, but of course he is. At 4-1, he’s more than qualified to compete on the prelims of an international Fight Pass event, where he’d face off against another too-green prospect for the opportunity to fight on future Fight Pass cards.
That’s the best case scenario for Cummins right now, because he accepted an invite to the big show too soon. In the UFC, you’re either a fighter the promotion wants to develop, or the meat that gets fed to them. Maybe two or three years from now Patrick Cummins could have been a prospect that the UFC was actually interested in. Instead, he chose to be the meat, after being fooled by one of the biggest lies in the MMA promoter’s handbook: Anything can happen in this sport.
