What’s the story?
The salaries of fighters competing at UFC 207 were publicly released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. A total of over $4.5m were paid out to the fighters with just one fighter making less than $20,000 and 7 fighters hitting the $100,000 mark.
Ronda Rousey emerged as the highest earner despite her shocking loss to Amanda Nunes in the main event at Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve.
In case you didn’t know..
Amanda Nunes picked up a huge win over Rousey as she dominated the global superstar and finished Ronda in just under 50 seconds of round one, retaining the gold and picking up a cheque of $200,000. Rousey however, emerged as the highest earner despite the defeat making a reported whooping $3,000,000.
Despite Cody Garbrandt’s dominant showing against Cruz, he was not awarded a win bonus. Nunes, TJ Dillashaw, Neil Magny and Dong Hyun Kim were handed win bonuses after their respective victories at UFC 207. Only two fighters missed weight and this resulted in 30% of the purse being taken away from Ray Borg and 20% from Hendricks.
Heart of the story
The total purse amounted to $683,000 but does not include performance bonuses and PPV money. The NSAC released the figures from the recently held event at the T-Mobile Arena that was sold out with a record attendance of 20000 people packing the stadium to witness the spectacle.
What’s next?
The UFC head to Brooklyn for their next PPV set to take place on Feb 11. But before they head to Brooklyn, a fight night featuring the legend BJ Penn and upcoming star Yair Rodriguez is set to capture the eyes of the MMA world. As the two face off in what will be an exciting stylistic match-up between the old and new styles of the sport, fans eagerly await the return of a legend with a few anticipating the rise of another.
