Actual Fighter Salaries ***

[edman5555]

Holy shit. I was watching a Roy Nelson Youtube interview for the Ultimate Fighter and he goes on talking about fighter Salaries. He notes how much a couple of guys make per fight "not on paper".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxo83s9u9jM&feature=related

He claims Chuck was making 3-6 million per fight and Randy was making 2.5 million per fight.

[Luke]

I find that hard to believe. Dana already gets enough crap for not paying fighters enough money, I'd think if he had fighters making that much per fight he'd be broadcasting it to the world to shut everyone up

[edman5555]

Well it is most likely dependent upon ppv buyrates so if Chuck sold 1 million ppv's then 3-6 million leaves Dana with plenty.

[Ludo]

Yep. Most marquee fighters make a percentage for every single buy the PPV they're on gets. Plus endorsements, plus base pay and any bonuses. Even non champions like Forrest Griffin and Chris Leben tend to make good money per fight.

[edman5555]

Yeah plus if they want they can open their own gym.

[Luke]

You guys are all basing this off Roy Nelsons word who isnt even one of the guys you are talking about . That would be like me saying SPX makes 20 million a year .Anyone can say anything

[Ludo]

We've seen and known about certain fighters making over a million per fight for years now. Tito, Chuck, Forrest, Randy, GSP, Lesnar, Penn, Hughes. They all pull in well over 1 mil per fight without fail.

http://www.mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighter-salary-database/salary-main/ufc-fighter-salaries.html

These are for 2010, not including endorsements and buyrate percentages. I think it's something like $4 per PPV buy for headliners. Since most cards with these guys on them average around 800k-1million buys they pull in quite a bit.

[Luke]

We've seen and known about certain fighters making over a million per fight for years now. Tito, Chuck, Forrest, Randy, GSP, Lesnar, Penn, Hughes. They all pull in well over 1 mil per fight without fail.

http://www.mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighter-salary-database/salary-main/ufc-fighter-salaries.html

These are for 2010, not including endorsements and buyrate percentages. I think it's something like $4 per PPV buy for headliners. Since most cards with these guys on them average around 800k-1million buys they pull in quite a bit.


You're numbers are way high Ludo. None of the guys you mentions average 800k -1 million buys per fight ,in fact the UFC has only had 11 total events with over 800k in buys in the history of the UFC . Of those 11 Liddell has been on exactly one event with a 800k+ buy rate so hes not averaging anywhere near 800k -1 million buys per fight ,its probably closer to 400k per fight


Lets just take Lesnar who we know is the highest paid fighter in the UFC and does the most PPV buys per fight. ESPN said he made 3 million for his fight at UFC 100 , his UFC salary was 400k for that fight so that leaves 2.6 million left . UFC 100 did 1.6 million in buys so the most Lesnar could have made per buy is 1.62 per buy (2.6 million /1.6 million) so theres no way anyone is making 4 dollars per buy .

The numbers just arent there to show anyones making that kind of money per fight ,at least not imo . I wpuld to see some concrete evidence showing what they actually made though

[zY|]

This all came out with Randy's contract dispute in 2007.

The PPV cuts are based on a scale.

Like this

Up to 100k buys= Nothing
100k - 175k buy = $1 per buy
175k - 300k buys = $1.50 per
300k - 330k buys = $2 per
330k+ buys = $3 per

Detailed here

http://www.fightlinker.com/advanced-randy-math

Here's another article around the same time with more numbers, showing Couture brought home over a million for both of his fights in 2007 (Sylvia and Gonzaga).

http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-disputes-coutures-claims-about-his-pay-2

Roy's numbers are likely a bit high, but rest assured, the top guys get paid.

[Luke]

This all came out with Randy's contract dispute in 2007.

The PPV cuts are based on a scale.

Like this

Up to 100k buys= Nothing
100k - 175k buy = $1 per buy
175k - 300k buys = $1.50 per
300k - 330k buys = $2 per
330k+ buys = $3 per

Detailed here

http://www.fightlinker.com/advanced-randy-math

Here's another article around the same time with more numbers, showing Couture brought home over a million for both of his fights in 2007 (Sylvia and Gonzaga).

http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-disputes-coutures-claims-about-his-pay-2

Roy's numbers are likely a bit high, but rest assured, the top guys get paid.


Very good info Zy ,nice finds

I wasnt arguing top guys get paid I just thought the "Chuck was making 3-6 million per fight and Randy was making 2.5 million per fight" was high and according to your numbers it is

Also how do you find articles back from 2007 ?

[Luke]

Of course those articles are from 2007 so he could be making more now. Why does the UFC have to be so secret about these things?

[zY|]

Very good info Zy ,nice finds

I wasnt arguing top guys get paid I just thought the "Chuck was making 3-6 million per fight and Randy was making 2.5 million per fight" was high and according to your numbers it is

Also how do you find articles back from 2007 ?

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be a rock solid way to search old shit that I know of. All these mma sites have terrible search functions. I found those by googling 'randy couture contract dispute' as I knew what I was looking for.

Also, if you google something like "site:mmaweekly.com 2007 randy couture" it works ok at pulling up old articles from specific sites.

[zY|]

Of course those articles are from 2007 so he could be making more now. Why does the UFC have to be so secret about these things?

I dunno if they're really being secretive as much as they only release what info they're required. Being a privately owned company, that ain't much.

[edman5555]

Based on the formula you put forth for Randy he could be making 2.5 million for a fight. If he gets 200k-250k to fight plus 200k-250k to win( I am at work so I can't really research these numbers) he can be getting up to 500k there. Then he gets sponsorships. I have no idea what that adds up to. 2 million dollars divided by 3 equals 666k ppvs. That isn't out of Randy's range is it?

Chuck might be getting more than Randy also. Especially if he is far surpassing the 330k mark. What if it goes up to 4 dollars per at 600k or 700k?

Roy might be off, but probably not by much.