The UFC paid out $625,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at Friday’s TUF 20 Finale. Leading the pack is new strawweight champion Carla Esparza, who doubled her $25,000 show-money by choking out Rose Namajunas, then earned an additional $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the effort. Lightweight main-carder Yancy Medeiros was a close second, raking in $80,000 in total prize money.
The full TUF 20 Finale salary list is below, via Sherdog. Keep in mind that these figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions due to taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Carla Esparza: $100,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Rose Namajunas: $25,000
Charles Oliveira: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus) Jeremy Stephens: $40,000
Daron Cruickshank: $17,000 K.J. Noons: $31,000 Note: The fight ended in a no-contest, and neither fighter was paid a win bonus.
Yancy Medeiros: $80,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Joe Proctor: $10,000
The UFC paid out $625,000 in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the 22 fighters who competed at Friday’s TUF 20 Finale. Leading the pack is new strawweight champion Carla Esparza, who doubled her $25,000 show-money by choking out Rose Namajunas, then earned an additional $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for the effort. Lightweight main-carder Yancy Medeiros was a close second, raking in $80,000 in total prize money.
The full TUF 20 Finale salary list is below, via Sherdog. Keep in mind that these figures don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions due to taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Carla Esparza: $100,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Rose Namajunas: $25,000
Charles Oliveira: $54,000 (includes $27,000 win bonus) Jeremy Stephens: $40,000
Daron Cruickshank: $17,000 K.J. Noons: $31,000 Note: The fight ended in a no-contest, and neither fighter was paid a win bonus.
Yancy Medeiros: $80,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus) Joe Proctor: $10,000
Jessica Penne: $66,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus) Randa Markos: $58,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Felice Herrig: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) Lisa Ellis: $8,000
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.
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.
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!!
(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.
(Unfortunately, the catcalls directed towards Ms. Baker could not be heard that night, as they were drowned out by the deafening chirps of a thousand crickets. Photo via Getty.)
By Jared Jones (channeling Dana White’s inner rage)
Sure, maybe the card lost an Olympian, it’s original co-main event, and it’s main event at the last minute. And yeah, UFC 177 as a whole only contained two fighters ranked in the top 15 in their division, and only two of the 144 ranked fighters in all 9 divisions, but this card was worth every penny of the $54.99 it cost, you unappreciative fucks! CRITICIZING SOMETHING MEANS YOU HATE IT.
Let me ask you this, you insatiable, armchair expert, dickhead media members: If UFC 177 was so shitty, then surely the fighters salaries would reflect it, right? Well, read ’em and weep!
T.J. Dillashaw: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Joe Soto: $20,000
Tony Ferguson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Danny Castillo: $36,000
(Unfortunately, the catcalls directed towards Ms. Baker could not be heard that night, as they were drowned out by the deafening chirps of a thousand crickets. Photo via Getty.)
By Jared Jones (channeling Dana White’s inner rage)
Sure, maybe the card lost an Olympian, it’s original co-main event, and it’s main event at the last minute. And yeah, UFC 177 as a whole only contained two fighters ranked in the top 15 in their division, and only two of the 144 ranked fighters in all 9 divisions, but this card was worth every penny of the $54.99 it cost, you unappreciative fucks! CRITICIZING SOMETHING MEANS YOU HATE IT.
Let me ask you this, you insatiable, armchair expert, dickhead media members: If UFC 177 was so shitty, then surely the fighters salaries would reflect it, right? Well, read ‘em and weep!
T.J. Dillashaw: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Joe Soto: $20,000
Tony Ferguson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Danny Castillo: $36,000
You see that? Three — count ‘em, three — fighters on the card cleared over $40,000*! In one night! Shayna Baszler made nearly 10K, for Christ’s sake, and she fought in the co-co-main event! Do you know what you can do with ten thousand dollars? That’s enough to almost tip the dealer after a typical night at one of the casinos you *aren’t* banned from! Enough to purchase a black market kidney to replace the one you lost at Scores during that poker game with Michael Jordan! I bet you feel foolish now, MMA media dickheads, for saying that UFC 177 was a TUF Finale-level card comprised of C and D-level fighters at best.
Not that your opinions even matter, because if you had opinions, you wouldn’t be credentialed in the first place! It’s a perfect system!!
In conclusion: Anyone who bashes our product is a f*cking idiot or jealous of our success. There’s no such thing as oversaturation. PPV numbers are at an all time high. Tito Ortiz never existed.
Dana f*cking White out.
*Renan Barao didn’t make shit, though, because we’re trying to send a message that if you don’t fight, you don’t get paid. Unless you’re Stefan Struve.
In February of 2006, former UFC fighter Lee Murray orchestrated the now-infamous London Securitas heist and (temporarily) made off with nearly $90 million dollars. It was not only considered the biggest robbery in MMA History, but the largest cash robbery in the history of the UK.
Last weekend at Fight Night 42, Diego Sanchez accomplished a similar, albeit more modest feat, successfully robbing Ross Pearson of a hard-earned decision victory and the UFC of an event-high $140,000. And in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, no less. While the New Mexico Athletic Commission’s involvement in the brilliantly executed heist remains under investigation, Sanchez appears to be in the clear. For now, at least.
Ben Henderson, on the other hand, must have renegotiated his contract at gunpoint. See what we’re talking about after the jump…
(Lol I got dis in da bag. Photo via Getty.)
In February of 2006, former UFC fighter Lee Murray orchestrated the now-infamous London Securitas heist and (temporarily) made off with nearly $90 million dollars. It was not only considered the biggest robbery in MMA History, but the largest cash robbery in the history of the UK.
Last weekend at Fight Night 42, Diego Sanchez accomplished a similar, albeit more modest feat, successfully robbing Ross Pearson of a hard-earned decision victory and the UFC of an event-high $140,000. And in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, no less. While the New Mexico Athletic Commission’s involvement in the brilliantly executed heist remains under investigation, Sanchez appears to be in the clear. For now, at least.
Ben Henderson, on the other hand, must have renegotiated his contract at gunpoint…
Lance Benoist: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) Bobby Voelker: $12,000
Scott Jorgensen: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus) Danny Martinez: $8,000
Jon Tuck: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) Jake Lindsey: $8,000
Patrick Cummins: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) Roger Narvaez: $8,000
Underpaid: Ben Henderson, a former champion who was making six figures just to show in his fights with Gil Melendez and Anthony Pettis, is now making just $45,000 to show. Diego Sanchez, who has dropped two out of his past three fights, never won a title, and hasn’t finished an opponent since 2008, is making $70,000 to show. You feel like taking this one, Kobe?
To end the the exercise in depression that are these salary recaps on a high note, however, you should know that Dana White did in fact give Ross Pearson his win bonus, a.k.a the Cecil People’s “Decision of the Night” award, so perhaps Diego’s robbery was a victimless crime. Ehhhverybody hap-peh!!
*Following Caraway’s win, the UFC displayed a graphic stating that Caraway had tied Urijah Faber for the most submission wins in bantamweight history. At Four. I’m just sayin’, when a number that small is the record to beat, maybe it’s not a stat worth mentioning.
(Erick Silva trots out everyone’s favorite cat meme prior to his main event scrap with Matt Brown. Photo via Getty)
Last weekend’s Fight Night 40 card “brought the ruckus,” to put it in scientific terms. With 7 (T)KO finishes, 8 underdog victories, and a main event brawl for the ages, the event continued to carry the momentum provided by UFC 172 and ease the worries of MMA fans who might have grown complacent with the UFC’s somewhat underwhelming product in 2014 thus far.
The figures for Fight Night 40, however, are what we’ve come to expect of a Fight Night event; only five guys cleared more than $40,000 (in disclosed salary, at least), and three poor bastards walked away with less than 10k for their troubles. I guess my cries for a $20,000 minimum payout per fight are still going unheard, despite my neighbors incessant noise complaints and threats to cut out my tongue if I don’t stop shouting off my porch.
The full list of salaries, along with our thoughtless and borderline incomprehensible analysis, is after the jump.
(Erick Silva trots out everyone’s favorite cat meme prior to his main event scrap with Matt Brown. Photo via Getty)
Last weekend’s Fight Night 40 card “brought the ruckus,” to put it in scientific terms. With 7 (T)KO finishes, 8 underdog victories, and a main event brawl for the ages, the event continued to carry the momentum provided by UFC 172 and ease the worries of MMA fans who might have grown complacent with the UFC’s somewhat underwhelming product in 2014 thus far.
The figures for Fight Night 40, however, are what we’ve come to expect of a Fight Night event; only five guys cleared more than $40,000 (in disclosed salary, at least), and three poor bastards walked away with less than 10k for their troubles. I guess my cries for a $20,000 minimum payout per fight are still going unheard, despite my neighbors incessant noise complaints and threats to cut out my tongue if I don’t stop shouting off my porch.
The full list of salaries, along with our thoughtless and borderline incomprehensible analysis, is after the jump.
Matt Brown: $182,000 (includes $41,000 win bonus, $50,000 FOTN bonus, and $50,000 POTN bonus) def. Erick Silva: $72,000 (includes $50,000 FOTN bonus) Costas Philippou: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Lorenz Larkin: $28,000 Daron Cruickshank: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Erik Koch: $18,000 Neil Magny: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Tim Means: $10,000 Soa Palelei: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Ruan Potts: $10,000 Chris Cariaso: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus) def. Louis Smolka: $10,000 Ed Herman: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus) def. Rafael Natal: $26,000 Kyoji Horoguchi: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Darrel Montague: $8,000 Zak Cummings: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Yan Cabral: $10,000 Johnny Eduardo: $66,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus, $50,000 POTN bonus) def. Eddie Wineland: $21,000 Nik Lentz: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus) def. Manvel Gamburyan: $25,000 Justin Salas: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Ben Wall: $8,000 Albert Tumenov: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Lapsley: $8,000
Overpaid: I’m not saying he’s overpaid, I’m just surprised that Ed Herman is making 40k to show at 2-2 1 NC in his past 5 fights. Then again, the man’s been fighting in the UFC since 2006 and was sacrificed to Ronaldo Souza at the final Strikeforce event, so it’d be hard to say he hasn’t earned his payrate.
Underpaid: Daron Cruickshank has quickly become one of the most reliable fighters in the UFC from an excitement perspective, yet he’s gone almost completely uncompensated for it. He’s scored three victories via brutal head kicks and just smoked former #1 contender Erik Koch in the first round, yet a quick gander over his Wiki page reveals not one performance bonus to be found. At just $12,000 to show, let’s pray that “The Detroit Superstar” is earning some sweet locker room bonuses to justify that abysmal payday. Then again, considering a house costs about as much as Casio wrist watch in his hometown, maybe he make that $24,000 stretch a long way.
Related: Johnny Eduardo was suspended 30 days for “unsportsmanlike conduct” following his upset victory over Eddie Wineland, which makes one wonder what the hell a 30 day suspension is even suppose to accomplish in a sport where fighters regularly go 4 months between fights.
