The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released the fighter salaries from UFC 66.
- Chuck Liddell: $250,000
- Tito Ortiz: $210,000
- Andrei Arlovski: $145,000
- Michael Bisping: $24,000
- Forrest Griffin: $16,000
- Keith Jardine: $14,000
- Jason MacDonald: $10,000
- Chris Leben: $7,000
- Marcio Cruz: $5,000
- Eric Schafer: $4,000
- Thiago Alves: $22,000
- Gabriel Gonzaga: $18,000
- Yushin Okami: $16,000
- Tony DeSouza: $7,000
- Christian Wellisch: $6,000
- Rory Singer: $5,000
- Carmelo Marrero: $5,000
- Anthony Perosh: $3,000
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $767,000
Loading ...
Amber
eric
capt.ADK'er
Yael Grauer
itzFORT
Singh is King
Fizzlesticks
WTFH
Studog
Thank-God most of these guys have sponsers. Mark my words… as time goes on the pay scales will get closer to boxing. Do these guys only get paid “per fight”? And are you saying that Arlovski got paid $140,000 more than his counterpart?? That’s why Dana White was quoted as saying that some of the “Don King’s” from boxing are coming over to MMA.
I guess if you really look at it, it’s not THAT bad. I mean, the UFC is paying the GREAT fighters GOOD money. Pay them too much and we’ll see to many one-hit-wonders, who fight for that one big pay-day. Does anyone know how many pay-per-view buys UFC 66 got? Let’s just say it was one million buys @ $39.99 a piece. That’s a large sum of money. Companies that make a 20-25% profit, are VERY good companies. I don’t know what the costs are to run such a business, but they should start putting at least 2% of their profit back into their fighters. They may be still trying to pay off debt left back when this sport was not what it is today. We’ll see this pay scale skyrocket in the next couple of years.
I DONT GET IT EITHER BRIAN….. THIS PAY SCALE SUCKS…. I THINK THE REASON WHY ARLOVSKI GOT PAID MORE IS CUZ HE IS POPULAR AS HELL ALOT OF PEOPLE WOULD RENT AN EVENT JUST TO SEE HIM FIGHT…. BUT THE UNDERCARDS MAN THAT PAY SUCKS!!!! ANYONE ELSE AGREE???
Fighters are paid based on what they signed a contract for. Don’t forget, the fighters agreed to these contracts so they obviously are content to stay in the UFC with the money they make. Also, this is just the base salary that is disclosed to the UFC. This doesn’t mean it is all the fighters are paid (bonuses, side deals, etc…) The UFC only has to disclose the actual “salary” amount, not the total amount actually paid to each fighter.
Also, for all these fighters except Tito and Chuck, the fighter who won the fight got his money doubled. So for instance, Michael Bisping made $24,000 which means he made $12,000 to fight and an extra $12,000 for winning.
They UFC pay has gone up dramaticly in the last year. This card’s pay is right on par with what it should. Nobody in the UFC should be making 2 and 2 or even 3 and 3.
can anybody tell me why forrest griffen made more money off this fight than keith jardine?
hey hot pad its probably cuz he was one of the fighters who won the ultimate fighter one and cuz he is pretty popular
I have read that mant of the more popular fighters have percentagte deals for gate and ppv buys. I don’t know if this is true, but pretty soon, once the sport hits the true main stream espn and such, I’m sure it will become so.
Well, you know, I think they all made more for a day’s work than I do, so more power to them. I mean, you get paid to knock the crap out of someone, sounds like fun to me. This is a dream job for most of these guys, good for them.
I’m SICK!@! I serously doubt Dana White will read this post nor will the fetichini brothers, but if by some minute chance that one of you is, I’d just like to say “shame on you!!!” THESE PAYOUTS ARE PATHETIC!!! Now I agree with the individual who said beware of the one fight payouts which would allow a fighter to basically retire win or lose, but and its a big Rosie O butt NO FIGHTER SHOULD STEP IN THAT OCTAGON FOR LESS THEN 10k! ZUFFA is not running in the red as the were in 01-04 They are doing quite well for themselves and regardless of what long term contracts some of these fighters are locked into, the UFC and ZUFFA needs to do whats right! SHARE THE WEALTH. I don’t know what we can do as fans to change this but I’m personally open to suggestions. A boycott would likely not work and I doubt many casual fans even care but I for one am totally entertained by what these fighters do! I am disgusted to the point of wanting to vomit when I hear that a fighter such as Thiago Alves may quite possible have to work a full time job while in training for his next fight! I say as fans we all find out the addresses of our favorite fighters gyms and send them a check if they win. Any amount of money would do. The hopes would be that maybe we can get some press out of it and try our best to embarrass Zuffa, Frank, his brother and Dana into paying these guys what they deserve. With the possiblity of Pride FC going under and K1 still being so far behind, fighters will fall into a UFC MMA Top Level monopoly that can continue to RAPE the very men who keep them in new Bentleys and Armani Suits. I pray someone finds a way to get this post to UFC management. In closing thank God for the sponsors! I emplore anyone reading this post to burn your UFC ZUFFA Apparel and in stead support your favorite fighters sponsor or sponsors.
PS Thiago, Chris Leben, and Bisping It ain’t gonna be much but be on the lookout for your check from yours truly next time your hand is raised.
DrJ,
I’ve read some of your previous comments and wonder if your actually a fan of MMA? How can you say that pay is on par or what it should be. I’ve done as much research as is humanly possible with no inside information and what I’ve come to find is that these guy’s are not paid what they deserve. Dana is a SHREWD MO FO Who has single handedly (well maybe not single handed) Saved the UFC as we know it. I owe him a debt of gratitude as a fan and HOPEFULL WEC or maybe just maybe a future UFC competitor. The praise stops there. My problem is not with the higher salary end fighters. Yes for the amount the UFC is bringing in they are paid fairly. My major issue is with the HUGE SALARY GAP between the entry level fighters and those fighters (Rich Franklin, TUF 1 – 4 Fighters, and Title contenders) Locked into longterm contracts. How the hell can anyone defend Monson making 13k for a title fight??? As far as I can tell from the research I did (actually spoke to some of his training partners at ATT) He had no so called “Side Deals or Percentage incentives” Those Percentage perks seem to be reserved for the Top Level fighters and BIG TIME personalities. Professional Athletes in any other sport make at least enough money to keep them from having to flip burgers on the side. Lets take a fighter like somewhat UFC Newcomer Eric Schafer (66 was his second or third ufc bout if I’m not mistaken right?) Old Eric is a professional athlete in one of the toughest sports on the planet. I paid 39.99 to see him among others get into the OCT and fight for their livly hood and from what I saw his life! and in the end what did he walk with?? 4 thousand bucks??? I’m sorry but WTF????? after paying his trainers, food, time away from his regular job (if he has one alot of lower level fighters still do), and taxes, what do you think he walked with? I say not nearly enough! These guy’s are fighting in the TOP organazation in MMA, Most have more then paid their dues in smaller shows across the country. These guys can losely be considered the allstars of the sport and to only make 4k??? I still don’t get it. I’m not sure if I got my point across the way I would have liked to and correct me if I’m wrong but you seem to have defended the salary’s in the past. Please, if you have time, read my points of interest and try to explain to me how these salary’s should seem fair to me.
Thanks in advance,
James
the only thing i will say on this topic is no is holding a gun to these guys heads and making them fight for peanuts. i make $4000 in about 6 weeks and if some one told me i can earn the same amount to fight one fight i would be all over it. a lot of these fighters do it for the pride and for a love of the sport and would do it for nothing if they had to. if you wanna be angry with someone pick on the fighter for take the small contracts. email your favorite fighter and tell him he worth more and stop selling them self short and ask for more money. thats about all you can do.
I think that this is a moot point. If you having been watching the trend line, the fighters paychecks are steadily getting larger, and will continue to do so as the butts fill the seats….guaranteed! Just like any other sport.
Remember… Chuck & Tito are millionares, and that’s the carrot that gives the underdog the drive to become a champion…. along with the rush of beating down what everyone believes to be a superior opponent.
yet again dennis your 100% right. you alway get it out in like 5000 words less then i do too.LOL.
Merci Mon Ami!
@James,
I hope that comment you made: “I’ve read some of your previous comments and wonder if your actually a fan of MMA?” is a sarcastic rhetorical question.
My points are this: We actually have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what the UFC fighters are paid. The numbers that are released to the athletic commissions are not necessarily the full amount the fighters receive for each price. They very well could be the full amount, but they also could be just a fraction of what they are actually paid.
The real issue is this, you don’t see too many fighters leaving the UFC. All the fighters here in the US want to fight in the UFC. If the pay was so terrible, they would go elsewhere. If fighters want to make a living fighting MMA, the UFC is pretty much what most North American fighters aspire too. If the money wasn’t worth it to them they wouldn’t be fighting.
I think some critics think that the UFC should pay their fighters on the same level as the NFL, MLB, or NBA because that is the payscale we are used to hearing about for professional athletes. But that is unrealistic. MMA is no where near the level of those other professional sports in way of income and market share. If they where, the payscale would be the same as those other sports. MMA athletes would have the same type of “players union” that you see in those other professional sports and there would be a “minimum salary.” But MMA is not at that level yet, so please don’t look at it that way.