UFC News: UFC lawsuit reveals huge PPV payments to McGregor, Rousey and Lesnar

UFC President Dana White
UFC President Dana White

What's the story?

Due to an ongoing lawsuit - which has seen former UFC fighters take the promotion to court over claims that the company has a monopoly over the mixed martial arts industry - details of how the UFC compensates their fighter have become public.

In case you didn't know...

The Anti-Trust lawsuit against the UFC has been a long and ugly process which first became public in 2014, and has seen many previously private pieces of information become public.

Most recently, a report documenting the UFC's method for rewarding its top stars with a share of their pay per view revenue has reached the mainstream media and makes for quite fascinating reading.

Singer's report on UFC bonus payments
Singer's report on UFC bonus payments

It is worth noting, the UFC will only offer pay per view bonuses to fighters involved in title fights at their events.

The heart of the matter...

The document - which was compiled by an expert witness on the case Hal J. Singer - reveals that the UFC's top stars are entitled to a share of pay per view revenues equivalent to $1.00 for every PPV sold between 200,000 and 400,000 buys.

For every PPV sold between 400,000 and 600,000 will see fighters rewarded with $2.00 per PPV sold, and $2.50 for every PPV sold over 600,000 buys.

Based on this method of payment for PPV headliners in the UFC, we are able to calculate how much was awarded to the headliners of some of the company's most successful events...

UFC 229 Nurmagomedov Vs McGregor sold 1,900,000 PPV's, meaning an estimated bonus payout of $3,850,000.

UFC 100 Lesnar vs Mir sold 1,600,000 PPV's, meaning an estimated bonus payout of $3,100,000.

UFC 193 Rousey vs Holm sold 1,100,000 PPV's, meaning an estimated bonus payout of $1,850,000.

What's next?

While this lawsuit has been dragging on for five long years already, don't be surprised if it continues for many more.

It remains to be seen what else we will learn about the intricacies of how the UFC conduct their business as the legal proceedings roll on.

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Edited by Zaid Khan