UFC 132 Cruz vs. Faber Fighter Salaries: Tito Ortiz earns $450,000
Posted on July 5, 2011, 04:44 PM by Joey Santosus
The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Tuesday released the final salary figures for fighters competing on last Saturday's UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Leading the way was former Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz, who earned a flate rate of $450,000 for his career-saving first-round submission victory over Ryan Bader. "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" caught Bader in a guillotine choke just 1:56 into the opening round, which equates to $3,879.31 a second... Not a bad pay day for a fighter picking up his first win since 2007, especially when one considers Ortiz's pre-fight revelation that he'd taken a pay cut to keep his job.
In a distant second was another veteran who put in a short night's work, as Wanderlei Silva took home $200,000 in defeat. In what was the legendary Brazilian's first outing in more than a year, "The Axe Murderer" opened up the bout with his customary double-fisted flurry before succumbing to a series of vicious uppercuts delivered by Chris Leben just 27 seconds into fight. Though UFC President Dana White hinted at Silva's retirement following the loss, at a pay rate $7,407.40 per second inside the octagon, it is no wonder that White's suggestion is being met with resistance by Wandi.
Complete fighter salaries are listed below (Total Payroll: $1,277,000):
Main Card
Dominick Cruz: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Urijah Faber: $32,000
Chris Leben: $92,000 ($46,000 win bonus) def. Wanderlei Silva: $200,000
Dennis Siver: $50,000 ($25,000 win bonus) def. Matt Wiman: $18,000
Tito Ortiz: $450,000 (no win bonus) def. Ryan Bader: $20,000
Carlos Condit: $68,000 ($34,000 win bonus) def. Dong Hyun Kim: $41,000
Preliminary Card
Melvin Guillard: $64,000 ($32,000 win bonus) def. Shane Roller: $21,000
Rafael Dos Anjos: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus) def. George Sotiropoulos: $15,000
Brian Bowles: $34,000 ($17,000 win bonus) def. Takeya Mizugaki: $12,000
Aaron Simpson: $34,000 ($17,000 win bonus) def. Brad Tavares: $10,000
Anthony Njokuani: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $14,000
Jeff Hougland: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Donny Walker: $6,000
Photo: Scott Hirano
Comments
No wonder Tito "begged" to keep his job.
Tito said he took a "paycut"???
I don't think so.
I just do not understand, for Tito to not win a fight since 07' until now and NOT be Champion and make 450K is RIDICULOUS!
Tito started fighting for free and helped build the UFC, Wanderlei draws more fans than anyone on that card, why are complaining about how much they make, the UFC needs to pay a lot more to his fighters especially if they are involved in the main event, that is for sure but people complaining about Tito and Wanderlei making too much, they are legends they fought his way to salaries, complain about Lesnar make more money than guys that have been fighting their whole life, not about guys that make this sport what it is now...
What's ridiculous is 450k is the most payed if you asked me the ufc should be paying that for new comers
@odeh UFC would go bankrupt just like Pride n SF if they did that......Tito getting paid the most is understandable, the more famous u r n the more PPV pull u have the more u get paid....once Cruz n Faber get more famous they'll start making more n more also
Suprised Dong Hyun Kim gets double what Ryan Bader and Dominic Cruz get? it's all about the draw, he brings in an army of Korean fans.
But Dennis Siver getting more than a champion in Cruz? not so clear on that one!
Wanderlei's hourly pay rate for that fight works out to be extreme haha
WHAT! thats a joke 20k main event and 20k win bonus for a world champion, doesnt seem right to be honest when siver earns more!
i miss read, but still that sucks
No u didn't misread... The $40k includes his win bonus. So that means he was paid 20k to show and 20k to win.
Urijah has plenty of sponsers as well, and being in a main event, you earn money not reported. So honestly someone being paid 15k could be making 6 figures and we won't know it.
You're spot on Vergina. In addition to unreported earnings from endorsement deals, these figures do not include bonuses, such as "Fight of the Night." Both Cruz and Faber were awarded an extra $75k for taking this bonus alone and we know Faber definitely has plenty of sponsorship and endorsement deals from seeing him in commercials and magazine ads. I am sure the same goes for Cruz.
They also earn a portion of the pay per view buys which depending on the percentage could potentially be more than all the other forms of payment
This isn't boxing. Dana does not like to share his dinner!
I'm pretty sure they dont all get that. Randy Couture famously does but I'm pretty sure that he's one of very, very few.
could be wrong but pretty confident on this
good to see fighters in the pre lims getting paid more than $2000 like we've seen before
Why does for instance Dong Hyun Kim get double of what Bader gets ?
Could maybe someone explain that ? Is this based on the financial value ? Like he brings in payperviews from Korea/Asien market while Bader doesn`t add much to the event ?
Called a contract bro. All TUF winners get the same contract, and DHK has been in the UFC longer than Bader. If you check his first fight in the UFC, he was paid 20k show, 20k win. Once Bader's contract is over you should expect a raise.
man i feel like for the fighters they are so underpay 450k for that clown? really?
He has been in this sport long than you probably ever started watching this. He deserves every penny. It is a shame he built his image based on being a douchebag and an asshole, but that aside hens one of the pioneers to build the sport to where it is.
Like him or not, the UFC pays him that much for a reason. Dana White says it best "when has the UFC ever made a bad deal?" (when interviewed by Ariel Helwani about SF purchase)
I thought I heard Tito say in an interview that he took a huge pay cut, I don't think it can be true considering how much he made for that fight.
He could have taken a pay cut on the percentage he earns from the pay per view buys. which could be substantial
To the user who said the numbers "weren't entirely accurate." I will repeat my earlier remark, those figures do NOT include their fight bonuses. The info relayed here is done so in the exact fashion it was provided by the NSAC. Whichever site you went to and got those numbers from took it upon themselves to add in the bonus money, which confuses and skews the total payroll figures. If you would like more info on the bonuses, I refer you to the post-fight "Wrap-Up" article, in which it discusses the Live Gate, Attendance, and fight bonuses. Thanks : )
**** TITO that monkey doesn't deserve $450,000.00. He's not ever title contender. WTF DANA. Thats ****ing Retarded!! Yea lets pay someone who hasn't fought in almost 4years half a million. Where's your head?
Tito Ortiz was a 6 time defending LHW champ you ignorant ****. This guy has the longest streak of title defense in the UFC LHW division (6 times). The only one close enough to his succes is Chuck Liddel (5 times).
It would seem you just jump on the MMA bandwagon, so you either jump out and retrace MMA or get off and go back to w/e sport you were in.
This comment might not changed the fact that Tito is a douche bag, but he is a great pioneer of the sport nonetheless.
First of all, there is something to be said for longevity. Chuck and Couture use to make near those amounts just for fighting. Second, you're clearly just a Tito hater judging by your remarks considering Tito has fought in the past 4 years and he has been a title contender before, maybe not recently, but he has. In fact, hes been a champion, but you probably haven't even been watching long enough to know that.
ufc rips off their fighters. dana said the gate was over 2 million, and that does not include all the ppv money which was 45 bucks each, and dont forget the money the ufc makes off their endorsements.
Cant belive he payed that Pos this much cash when theres excelent fighters out there making shit money and putting on extremely good fights.
Like Jaypak said, Titio earned every penny of that money. He's a pioneer in the sport. He's been there since UFC 13 !!!!! He's "Old school". He's has broken 4-5 PPV records. People love to see him fight. He has paved the way for fighters today & has fought for better conditions, pay, contracts etc.....
So if you think this money sucks, imagine how bad it would suck if fighters like Tito didn't fight with Dana & the UFC for more money?
I'm glad he's back & I hope he's a title contender once more before he retires.
You might think he's a **** or behaves like a tool, but you only have to look back on TUF 3 to see how great a coach he is & how good he is with people. He's a good guy deep down who puts on a tough front!
Well if the little guys are main card worthy why are they getting undercard payment?
Man look at all these Tito ****suckers on here. You people act like he's the one who saved MMA. He's a shitty fighter. His title fights were crap, as a matter of fact I never see footage of them any more. I guess all you ****s think highly of him because he invented the heel stomp......man he's a true pioneer of the great sport. You all are the same retards that would pay 60 bucks to still see Mike Tyson fight. DUMB ASSES.
I'm guessing your young, or are a bum that has never work. You sit with a company for 14 years and if your salary does not change in that time than you need to find a new profession. Tito didn't start at 450k. It was probably increased over time as he became more and more successful. You really think Dana decided to pay him this much for this fight specifically? Its what his contract says. Like it or not, Tito is a big draw due to his extra special douchiness that he usually displays. I don't like Tito myself, in fact, I lost money because I had Bader winning, Think rationally and quit being a hater.
The UFC is a private company, so they are not legally obligated to divulge all of the payments made to fighters, and they deliberately keep those payments a secret, for obvious reasons.
Typically, those fighters who seem to make a very large salary like Tito in the official numbers are paid a flat rate--what you see is what you get.
If top fighters were paid poorly, the UFC would be setting themselves up for a competing promotion.
The pay has most to do with the name and drawing power of the fighter, not their ranking in their respective division.