UFC 146: dos Santos vs. Mir, fighter salaries

The next Heavyweight card:



Dos Santos vs. Cain

Cormier vs. Alistar

Brock vs. Nelson

Struve vs. Mir

Bigfoot vs. Shane Del Rasario

Looks good but I want Werdum vs Mir

This 2 fights should be a must in the HW division



For the title

Dos Santos vs Alistar Overeem/ Cormier



Werdum vs Frank Mir is a must!

and let Cain get another Top 10 fighter to get his title fight

maybe Carwin,Barnett , Noguiera or even Nelson

sorry but for the champ already champ defend his title win and get no win bonus and make what mir makes losing and hewasnt even going to be

the fight WRONG.......JDS got screwed

why did cain make more the jds

Because money is made on drawing power, and no matter how good JDS is he still doesn't draw that well. Mir probably made more behind the scenes than him too. Anderson doesn't get paid as much as GSP, Jones, Rampage, Griffin, Ortiz, Diaz, and probably a few more. Lesnar was by far the most paid UFC fighter in history.

money is made on drawing power and nothing else.

otherwise, anderson would be the highest paid fighter of all time, and lesnar would've been fighting for free

silva gets a ppv % 2 though

Overall Silva is probably the highest earning fighter, including sponsorships etc.

He is guaranteed to make at least $6 mill for fighting Chael.

GSP usually gets around $4 mill and Bones got a minimum of 33 for fighting Rashad.

I meant 3 for Bones

Man that is a lousy money for championship fight! I thought championship fight purse was around average $500,000??

I think Zuffa is absolutely low balling fighters when it comes to pay.

That's my opinion.

I dont think that these numbers are accurate cause a lot off them get paid underneath the table and by that I dont mean Jenna Jameson style

@billy jack

whenever i see a comment like yours I always feel the need to point out that they make a lot more than what is published. All champs get anywhere from 1 to 3 $ per ppv buy plus other bonuses. JDS most like made close to a million excluding sponsorship. If the UFC were selling a million every major ppv and charge more than 50 bucks like boxing and were paying this a basic wage I would understand your argument.

Nope, Cruz got under 50k for his last fight if i remember right

"All champs get anywhere from 1 to 3 $ per ppv buy plus other bonuses."



-Strictly depends on the draw. Aldo and Cruz certainly are not getting that. In fact, their contracts are not even between titlists normally.



"JDS most like made close to a million excluding sponsorship."



-Maybe, we just won't know unless we work for the IRS.



"If the UFC were selling a million every major ppv and charge more than 50 bucks like boxing and were paying this a basic wage I would understand your argument."



The UFC is actually declining in PPV buys, and has been for close to 2 years now so that is actually good point. The problem is 1 million PPV buys should equal 1 million dollars. Let's take for example the recent Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto PPV. Floyd made upwards of 45-50 million dollars off of a PPV that sold 1.5 million times for 70 dollars. That's a big payout. The problem with people who want to say that's way too much, and it doesn't allow other people to make money is on that same card Cotto made upwards of $12 million. Saul Canelo Alvarez made around $2 million after %'s were reached. Shane Mosley made $750,000. Two more undercard fighters Jesse Vargas and Carlos Quintana made over $50,000. And each UFC PPV is sold for at least $50.



The UFC should not be giving out numbers on par with this. However, acting like the funds aren't there to be giving JDS upwards of $3-4 million dollars for a card that draws 450k+ viewers isn't anywhere based in reality either.

Frank Mir defeated? And he gets $200,000 like JDS. I thought lossers should get less money than the winners. O.o



And JDS, the Heavyweight Champ only got $200,000. I Agree with Billy Jack. ZUFFA come and think of it!!

You guys know nothing about the business. Even this new SO-Called expert ANALyst Evan Holololobererer....Cormier is awesome but a instant title fight befor cain..Get real. And why would frank mir vs werdum be a must????I like both guys but the Struve vs Nelson re match might be needed. And to BillyBob JackieJack you obviously have NEVER read the payouts in MMA ever....The boxing vs mma comes to mind hmmmmmm....But Im a hater and im Outie and aboutie. Lowkics Most Hated cherry chucker mitchy slik ........

No no no, you APPARENTLY are the expert analyst. Stop beating around the bush.



This statement you just wrote, might have been the best example of the reason kids need to stay in school, and don't do drugs.

Oh, Chris Gomez please enlighten us. Please, please please enlighten us with your profound knowledge of the salary structure in MMA. I'm highly intrigued by the thought of being educated by somebody so confident. Whenever it is convenient for you be my guest. Especially somebody so sure of himself to bring up my name in a negative connotation when the only things I brought were drawing power in MMA.



I'm dying to hear your intelligent response.

When I think of genius, I think....Gomez....huh huh huh.

WTF



They need to pay Roy better!

Couldn't agree more with you !



I don't know what behind the scenes deals are offered to him....but the base pay is ridiculous.



I understand that guys deserve extra bonuses on PPV sold.......but if you are not on the main card and are throwing haymakers for three rounds and copping damage then you deserve a bit more respect.



Many of the undercard fights are the better matches.



It pisses me off when you get big name fighters come in overweight, bad attitude collecting such huge pay. Rampage comes to mind.



If the UFC can pay millions to commentators, ring girls and announcers, then they should show more love to the guys who make the big stage. All of these guys are accomplished amateur fighters or wrestlers.



Compared to some athletes in basketball and baseball, it seems like a joke. You can have a team of players all earning in the millions.

The UFC's undercard fighters are actually the best paid in combat sports compared to boxing and other shows. That's how they keep pace with a lot guys that make it big. Instead of giving guys their base pay of something like 12 to show 12 to win, they give them 20 or 30gs extra. It creates a type of loyalty because they took care of them when they were new.

The UFC have provided their fighters with insurances which is great but the undercard fighters I don't think are getting paid that well for the show they provide. The UFC have said they are paying their fighters above other promotions, however total salaries are not transparent with the UFC so you have to go by what the fighters are saying who have been with the organization.



Many high level athletes in the UFC who are millionaires have complained about pay salaries for their teammates including the PPV percentages.



I don't think the UFC can argue that pay is fair just because their promotion pays a little bit more than another promotion.



I just think that these guys are in much tougher sports than baseball and basketball so they should be rewarded better considering they are televised all over the world and they can only appear 2-3 times per year fighting.

"The UFC have provided their fighters with insurances which is great but the undercard fighters I don't think are getting paid that well for the show they provide."



-And I'm trying to tell you they are. Undercard fighters might put on great performances that steal the show every once in a while, but they are not the draw. They are not the ones putting butts in the seats, or eyeballs on the screen. Plus, most of them get much more money than reported. Sean McCorkle has stated that he has never heard of a undercard or non main event main card fighter getting only their actual purse. There's always some type of extra pay behind the scenes.



It's much more compared to other sports.



"Many high level athletes in the UFC who are millionaires have complained about pay salaries for their teammates including the PPV percentages."



Many have, but not for undercard fighters. PPV percentages are paid out to the people who draw. If guys are on the undercard they are not draws.



"I just think that these guys are in much tougher sports than baseball and basketball so they should be rewarded better considering they are televised all over the world and they can only appear 2-3 times per year fighting."



I agree with the points you are making a lot. If you've never read my opinions on this subject I am all for transparency in fighter pay, and mainly for the fighters forming a union to recieve at least 50% of all profits from UFC shows and merchandise. However, A - they are the ones who chose this profession, B - the UFC is not making nearly as much money as any of those sports, and C - those are team sports.



Even if the UFC and its fighters were to set up some type of collective bargaining agreement the undercard combatants still would only be getting 5 - 10 grand more a fight.

I get what your saying Evan....Its complicated, because until there is complete transparency we will never really know the exact amount being paid.



You are right however that fighters have a choice to sign a contract or not. No one is directly forcing them.



How much a fighter should be paid is a difficult question because it has to ultimately consider PPV sales as you mention? And your right that stars bring PPV numbers like Brock, GSP etc.



I guess from a fans point of view, time and time again we see guys on undercards like Matt Brown who deliver time and time again and you just wonder whether these guys are earning their just desserts in the pay scale particuarly when you look at base salaries.



anyway thanks for your comments.

If I am a pro fighter like Mir, I don mind losing coz I still get better pay..

Where JDS's win bonus?? Its not like he barely eeked out a 5 round boring decision.



Either way 200Gs a fight, 3 times a year. Not bad coin at all. Especially when he barely broke a sweat this fight and his last one was only a minute long.

Definitely shocked at Roy's base salary. I recall it being low in the past, too. Not sure how guys like Dave Herman, Bigfoot, and Lavar Johnson are making more (before the win bonus).

Hardy gets 50 and Varner 20? Something wrong with that math.

Brazil is full of criminals so i guess thats why JDS did'nt show his wallet on the internet guys, or he will get same disaster like Belfort.