Islam Makhachev just proved once again that there are levels to this game. After round 4, the Russian hit the switch and pushed the pace, imposing his will on ‘The Diamond’ Dustin Poirier likely pushing him into retirement. Regardless, the exceptional effort from the fighters won’t go unnoticed as both take home big fat paycheques.
The main event fighters will earn a substantial amount for their show, amounting to millions in paychecks. With Poirier putting on a show, testing the champ’s chin, he will earn considerably more than your average title challenger despite the submission loss.
While the champion, Makhachev is guaranteed $1 million, given the quality of the fight, it can rack up to $3 million to $5 million, according to Sportster.
As for Poirier, he has a base pay of $800,000 since he dismantled Conor McGregor. And now with his solid performance against the Russian, we can expect the Louisiana native to earn a staggering $2 million, given that it was a $7 million PPV gate.
Credits: Imago
Mind you, the cumulative for the event is most likely to cross $15 million and this will ensure that the fighters will be rewarded generously.
UFC 302 co-main event payouts and salaries
Though the main event was the star attraction on Saturday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the co-main event between Sean Strickland and Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa also got a lot of love. The American as usual marched forward putting the Brazilian on the back foot for the entirety of their fight, landing heavy shots whenever he needed.
Costa threw in some vicious leg kicks, but Strickland’s nasty defense was an insult to the injury. Realizing that he was hurting his own leg a lot more, Costa started backing away almost throwing the fight.
For their efforts, Strickland and Costa are expected to receive base salaries of $350,000 with the outspoken American bagging an extra $250,000 for the victory while the Brazilian will have to be content with what he got and wait his turn next fight.
