.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Bellator XCVI Pick 'Em Contest"){kind=logo}
UFC 140 Fighter Salaries
Is it any wonder why Tito Ortiz still wants to have at least one more fight in the UFC? When you are pulling in a record $450,000 guaranteed every time you step into the Octagon, you don't mind taking a few body shots from the likes of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. But Ortiz wasn't the only one pulling in the dough on Saturday night - in fact, the event's top five earners (Ortiz, Frank Mir, Lyoto Machida, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Jon Jones) are all among the top 10 earners in 2011.
Before we go any further, we should note that Ontario's Athletic Commission doesn't release fighter pay info, so none of the following salary data for the event is official. However, you can get a fairly accurate picture of a fighter's pay based on official purse info released from past fights. So, based on that info, here is the estimated pay breakdown for the 24 fighters that traded blows at the event (but please remember - this is only an estimate, not official info, especially for any fighters that made their UFC debuts at the event). These numbers obviously also don't include any PPV revenue, undisclosed bonuses and/or sponsorship money any of these fighters may have made.
Tito Ortiz: $450,000
Frank Mir: $325,000 ($125,000 to show, $125,000 win bonus, $75,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
Lyoto Machida: $275,000 ($200,000 to show, $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: $250,000
Jon Jones: $215,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 win bonus, $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $120,000 ($80,000 to show, $40,000 win bonus)
Chan Sung Jung: $85,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 win bonus, $75,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Dennis Hallman: $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 win bonus)
Mark Bocek: $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 win bonus)
Igor Pokrajac: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus)
Nik Lentz: $15,000
Brian Ebersole: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)
Krzysztof Soszynski: $12,000
Constantinos Philippou: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)
Jared Hamman: $12,000
Yves Jabouin: $12,000
Jake Hecht: $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 win bonus)
Rich Attonito: $8,000
John Cholish: $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 win bonus)
Claude Patrick: $6,000
Mark Hominick: $6,000
John Makdessi: $6,000
Walel Watson: $4,000
Mitch Clarke: $4,000
Tito and Nog got THAT MUCH just to come fight?!? My goodness, absurd. There are so many other guys that deserve more cash that are just making a pittance.
And Jones is the steal of the century for the UFC is he's only getting $70K to fight. He should get like a million, when compared to Tito/Nog.
1 Like
@CollegeWolf Ya, Nog and Tito are obviously paid based on past performance, not present. Not sure if Nog gets a cut of the PPV $ though (Tito doesn't anymore, which is why his base salary is so high).
As for Jones, he definitely gets some PPV $$, plus I'm pretty sure he is getting more than what I have reported above, but he hasn't fought in a region that discloses fighter purse info for a little while. Once he does that, I'll adjsut his past pay to reflect it.
@Jeff Fox Ah, makes sense for Tito.
Cool... excited to see what Jones is actually making. Would have to assume at this point he's at least getting some PPV $. Good for him.
@CollegeWolf @Jeff Fox FYI - I haven't seen the early estimates for how many PPVs UFC 140 sold, but once I do I'll post something.
@Jeff Fox Lol, true. But still, at least guys like Bones will get the additional monies they deserve.
@CollegeWolf @Jeff Fox But with no one buying PPVs anymore, a cut of the PPV revenue ain't what it used to be!
