Fighters’ salaries for UFC Fight Night 8, which was held Jan. 25 at the Seminole Hotel Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., are below.
UFCjunkie.com is usually the first MMA outlet to report official fighters’ salaries from UFC events. In fact, for last week’s UFC Fight Night 8 event, I actually put in my first request with the Florida State Boxing Commission the day of the event — hours before the night’s first fight. Yet, I got no answer.
Despite a voicemail, fax, email and everything short of smoke signals, I still got scooped. I planned to throw up the figures just now and noticed my counterpart at UFCmania.com has beat me to it.
So dammit.
Anyway, I present the following figures with my tail tucked firmly between my legs:
Rich Clementi — $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Ross Pointon — $5,000 ($5,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Clementi wins second-round rear naked choke)
Din Thomas — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Clay Guida — $5,000 ($5,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Thomas wins via unanimous decision)
Ed Herman — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Chris Price — $3,000 ($3,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Herman wins via first-round armbar)
Josh Burkman — $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Chad Reiner — $3,000 ($3,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Burkman wins via unanimous decision)
Nathan Marquardt — $44,000 ($22,000 to show, $22,000 to win)
Dean Lister — $11,000 ($11,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Marquardt wins via unanimous decision)
Hermes Franca — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Spencer Fisher — $13,000 ($13,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Franca wins via second-round TKO)
Jake O’Brien — $18,000 ($9,000 to show, $9,000 to win)
Heath Herring — $6,000 ($6,000 to show, no win bonus)
(O’Brien wins via unanimous decision)
Rashad Evans — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Sean Salmon — $3,000 ($3,000 to show, no win bonus)
(Evans wins via second-round KO)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I take some solace in knowing that Heath Herring didn’t make too much on that night. Cause none of us did either.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:40 pm
that’s true!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:41 pm
It would be a real coup to find out what the medical suspensions after this event are.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:52 pm
UFCJunkie:
Are you able to tell us how much you paid Sean (as his sponsor) ?
I’m really curious how somebody can quit their job and spend time training for the chance of making $3,000 (or even $12,000 ).
Doesn’t make much financial sense.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Daylon – Unfortunately, that info is classified. It wasn’t life-changing money, though.
I believe that some money comes from the team in which a fighter signs.
Really, there are a variety of sources from which a fighter can make money, but as you can see, they need some help. That’s why UFCjunkie.com wanted to get in the business of sponsoring the new guys. It’s definitely an uphill battle for them, and they can use the help.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I’m shocked to see that O’Brien made more than Herring (deservedly so). I’m also shocked to see that Clementi made $20,000 (which is a lot more than he deserves).
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Imagine if this sport continues to grow… fighters will eventually look like race cars with clothing covered in LOWES and HOME DEPOT logos. =D
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I think UFCJUNKIE, did great sponsoring Sean, I think he has a great future in the UFC, this lost should be a learning experience, hope to see more fighters sponsor by you guys. The “UFC fight club” where I work loved this site, thanks UFCJUNKIE
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Heath Herring really needs to focus on his ground game cause he came off really sucking in that department
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 8:35 pm
While 3000 per fight is obviously not family-supporting cash, the guys making in the 12-20k range per fight (which is a decent percentage of non first-timers) isn’t all that unreasonable. Most people fight 3-4 times a year, so at that rate you’re taking in roughly 36-80k, which is livable.
And that’s just their fight purses, doesn’t include sponsors.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 9:51 pm
While it’s true that 36-80k sounds like a reasonable salary to the average joe, let’s not forget the intense training that these professional fighters have to live through. It’s not your average job and also, I’m sure it costs them a nice penny to pay the camp for training purposes, corner men, managers, etc. Also, who pays for the medical bills that they acquire from these fights? Hopefully UFC covers that expense! JM2C
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Something else about Herring, whining after losing isn’t attractive. I agree that there’s more to it than just laying on somebody until the bell rings, but it’s silly to try and hold court with the fans after the fight. Those kinds of discussions should be with White. White doesn’t like that either, and I bet O’Brien got some words about how he won. What was that one main event that had to be the worst in history…wasn’t Salaverry one of the fighters? It was at about the same time Dana White made his speech about not coming to the UFC if not serious about wanting to fight.
Still I thought Herring looked like a poor sport, and his ground game did suck.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 11:11 pm
UFCJunkie,
With all the money the UFC is now making I find it pathtic that Sean Salmon who was in the main event only got $3,000.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Good to see that Marquardt was the one who made the most money. He deserves it.
interesting also that several of the TUF fighters made rather large sums of money. Has the salaries for the tv-fighters gone up since the first series? (probably)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Hi there,
I am a new fan of the UFC. I am a 34 year old mother of two, whom after the birth of my second baby, ended up watching re-runs of Ultimate Fighter on late night TV, when daughter wouldn’t sleep! I am now totally addicted and have found out there are many out there like me!! Just a quick question I was hoping you could answer for me please… When you list the fighters salaries, I am not understanding why some fighters are paid to show and a bonus to win, while others just paid to show up. Is there a method to this madness, I can’t seem to figure it out. Is it generally the heavily favored fighter gets a win bonus, while the underdog just gets paid to show up? That is sort of what I thought but then I read that in the O’Brien/Herring fight O’Brien had a win bonus, and Herring did not, so I am confused! I would really appreciate your tutelage on this one! Thanks for your time, and your blog, I check it everyday and impress my husband, and friends with all “my” knowledge on the UFC!
Jill
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 4:03 am
i am suprised that the ufc got hearing so cheap. good thing cause his sprawl was brutal.
im a newcommer to ufcjunkie, but a hardcore mma fan and i will definitly be back.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 7:15 am
Btw, Ufcjunkie, do you have any information about the extra money that is sometimes awarded for Fight of the night, Submission of the night and so on?
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 8:24 am
Jill,
Both fighters are given an amount to just show up and fight. This is a pretty wide range but seems to be based on experience and perhaps a generalized sense of the fighter’s prestige within the weight class (in other words, UFC may believe one fighter is a bigger draw for fans than another fighter with the same record and number of fights). For example, this was Josh Burkman’s 5th UFC fight and he now has a 4-1 record, so I was surprised he only got a $7,000 guarantee. But the welterweight division is stacked with a lot of top contenders ahead of him and “The People’s Warrior” is only moderately popular with the people. So, this probably hurts his earning power.
So, fighter A is a newcomer and guaranteed $3,000, which seems to be the minimum purse right now. Fighter B has 3 UFC fights under his belt and is guaranteed to make $8,000. Now, for them to have a greater incentive to win, each fighter will generally double their money for a victory. It’s not always double, there’ve been a few oddball amounts, but double seems to be the general rule. So, if fighter A wins an upset, he’ll get $6,000 total ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win) and fighter B will get $8,000 to show with no bonus for losing. If fighter B wins, he’ll get $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win) and fighter A gets his $3,000 with no bonus for losing. If anybody thinks I read any of this wrong, please chime in.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 8:40 am
Hyde – couldn’t have explained it better myself.
Well said.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 8:51 am
Jill,
I believe the win bonuses are listed for the fighters that actually won. If the other fighter would have won they in turn would have gotten a win bonus.
3,000 for that nasty kick to the head, OUCH!!! Give that man a highlight reel bonus or something.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 9:35 am
I was also surprised to see how much N-8 Marquardt made for his fight. Actually Lister should have received more money because he took an ass beating for his duckets. But he is one tough dude that earned my respect for NEVER giving up.
This fighter pay seems out of whack. I watch/read Dana White’s interviews on TV and in Playboy, Baltimore Sun, etc. and he brags about how he and Zuffa purchased the UFC for $2 million and now it is worth nearly $1 billion (yes, one billion dollars – his words), even though he would not give an exact number.
So with a company that is bringing down that kind of cash, he is able to get away with paying his “foot soldiers” peanuts, except for the really big names – and even those numbers fade in comparison to other professional athletes. I saw a story on CNN that said the UFC is bringing in bigger numbers (popularity, viewership, etc.) than Major League Baseball, NBA, and the NHL. And look what those guys are making. One pitcher $250 million for 7 years, Dave Beckam – $250 million for 5 years. That’s sick and these guys aren’t even getting punched, kicked, choked. They are wussies compared to UFC warriors.
I am sure it took more than $6000 to bring Heath Herring back to the UFC. He got some other money somewhere. I noticed that he had some heavy sponsorships on his shorts at the event (Xyience). UFC Junkies give him a break, it was a very bad match up. I hate to say it, but wait until his next fight. If he disappoints, I’ll buy everyone on this blog a BEER!
What about “Rampage” Jackson? I wonder what kind of cash it took to get him back.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 10:07 am
With the hype behind Herring, I’m surprised that his numbers were so low. However, after seeing the fight, it makes sense.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 10:27 am
The low payouts to fighters bugs me, especially with Dana White bragging about how much money UFC is making (which is justifiable since part of his job is to make UFC look like a respectable sports league). But their fight purses may not be the only money they get. UFC could give them an unreported base salary or signing bonus that we don’t know about. Remember, the only reason we know what they make for each fight is because the athletic commissions require publication of these payouts (I think). As UFC gains money and popularity, some more generalities on how they get paid will have to come out, but I hope we don’t learn too much. I like the way NASCAR works – you know how long a driver is signed to a team, but you have no idea how much money they make. There’s a gentleman’s agreement to keep it quiet. I think this is how they avoid all the public contract bickering and press lunacy during the free agency periods of other sports, where the contract disputes are often bigger than the actual games themselves. I don’t ever want to hear a fighter complain about wanting more money. Complain to White if you want, but there’s a certain dignity in not airing the finanical dirty laundry in public. If White wants the best fighters, then he’ll have to pay for them -and I’m sure the agents are pretty good at pointing out why their fighters deserve a nice slice of the rapidly-expanding economic pie.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 10:43 am
I think its funny how the fight that cost Dana the most that night, Marquardt vs. Lister, was the one that Spike TV didn’t want on the air.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Peloquin – I don’t think they give those bonuses for Fight Night events. Not officially, anyway.
I could be wrong, though.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Unless I am mistake (I’m sure Junkie or someone else more knowledgeable could correct me) don’t all of the fighters get a lump sum payment when they sign a contract with the UFC?
When the winners of TUF get their contract they are paid $100,000 plus whatever they earn on a per fight basis as well. I was under the impression that this is how all of the fighters are handled and thus although the per fight payout is still low, they have recieved money already at the time of their initial contact agreement.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at 7:44 pm
thanks ufc & hyde!!
Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 2:26 am
Yeah, I didn’t think they gave out bonuses for Fight Nights either until Ed Herman made that comment about: “this submission’s gotta be worth the submission of the night”.
Sure sounded like a plea for more money to me.