Following the success of UFC 300, the UFC bandwagon has reached Brazil where Flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja will defend his belt against ‘Astroboy’ Steve Erceg. While on paper, the event might not look as grandeur as the UFC 300, the fighter payout of the main event between Pantoja and Erceg is still impressive, meaning that there’s ample money to be earned in Rio.
Though we don’t have any official confirmation regarding the same, we can certainly can make the approximations. Pantoja reportedly earned a base salary of $182,000 when he defeated Brendon Moreno last July to claim the belt. After capturing the gold, the Brazilian’s stock has only increased considering his lopsided win against Brandon Royval.
Now being the top dog in the division, Pantoja doesn’t have to rely on his base UFC payout. Instead, as the division’s champion, he will now have additional PPV points earning him a lot more in cash. According to NYfights, Pantoja is expected to earn a staggering $750,000 at UFC 301, thanks to this revenue system.
As for the challenger, Erceg, the Aussie did not have an impressive payout at UFC 295. The 27-year-old reportedly got a base salary of $54,000 for his performance at UFC 295 but his stellar KO win over Matt Schnell in March might do the fighter some good. He is expected to earn $200,000 in prize money courtesy of his new status.
Besides Pantoja’s title defense as the main event, the Rio de Janeiro card will also have former pound-for-pound legend Jose Aldo returning to the octagon for his last UFC bout. With a stacked card, fighters including fellow Brazilian Renato Moicano have expressed their thoughts, saying that the Pantoja vs Erceg card will shatter all norms, reaching 700,000 PPV buys.
Moicano’s bold prediction for Pantoja vs Erceg
The fifth PPV of the year is in fact stacked with Brazilian superstars, promising fans bang for their money. Besides Pantoja’s main event and the co-main event between Jose Aldo and Jonathan Martinez, the Rio card will have Michel Pereira and Caio Borralho enthralling the crowd.
Now, Gilbert Burns and Renato Moicano recently sat down for the ‘Show Me the Money’ podcast where Moicano argued that the UFC 301 card with Pantoja would shatter all expectations. He argued with the welterweight that Pantoja would earn a whopping $700,000 in PPV sales. Now, while that might seem unlikely given there are no super fights on the card, one can never say never.
