UFC Fight Night took over Sin City over the weekend, with the mighty Michael Morales and Brazilian fighter Gilbert Burns headlining. The fight will pit Morales’ 17-0 unbeaten streak against the deep experience of jiu-jitsu specialist Burns.
With two interesting narratives clashing in the Octagon, the hype was huge and the stakes were high, as it should be for a UFC Vegas showdown. And of course, as it was Vegas, the payouts were expected to match The City of Lights’ status. Naturally, that piqued fans’ interest in the payouts reserved for UFC Vegas 106’s main event stars.
Looking at Morales’ reach and well-rounded arsenal, it’s not surprising to see him racking up the wins. After downing Jake Matthews and Neil Magny, he managed to knockout Burns on Sunday.
Drawing huge interest for several reasons, and commanding the respect of the UFC fans, their pay is likely to reflect their high status within the promotion.
A closer look at the UFC Vegas 106 main event payouts
The biggest name on the UFC Vegas 106 lineup, Burns was estimated to have earned between $150,000 and $200,000 for his last fight – the UFC Vegas 97 fight with Sean Brady, where he lost with a unanimous decision in September of last year.
Yet, now aged 38 and on a four-match losing streak, Burns took home $21,000 as part of a compliance pay. As per estimates from Sporty Salaries, his earnings were anywhere between $120,000 and $150,000. Overall, Burns has made $821,000, having been the highest paid fighter amongt fighters who fought across the UFC Fight Night 256, Vegas 106 and
On the other hand, Morales won the Performance of the Night bonus worth $50,000 and another $6,000 as part of compliance pay. It is believed that he has easily taken home a figure north of $150,000, with his victory being massive. His overall earnings have risen to $600,000, taking PPV money share and sponsorship into account too.
Amongst other fighters, Jared Gordon and Tecia Pennington earned an impressive $16,000 each as part of compliance pay after their victories over Thiago Moses ($11,000) and Luana Pinheiro ($6,000) respectively. Gordon and Moses both took home $200,000 as base pay and around $15-16k as sponsorship fees.
Pennington earned another $221,000 from the fight, while Pinheiro made just $65,000. Melquizael Costa impressed many, bagging $157,000 on estimate for his win over Julian Erosa. However, Erosa still managed to make approximately $336,000.
