It is safe to say that UFC 314 lived up to its hype. Fans picked sides with devotion, set alarms for the main card, and were excited for another night of knockouts, takedowns, and Octagon drama. But beyond the action, there was one question on everyone’s mind—who will really be cashing in?
Beginning with the Alex Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes headliner fight, Volk has reportedly walked away with at least $1 million for his main event clash. According to Sports Illustrated, the newly crowned featherweight champion took home another $42,000, while the UFC announced in a post-event press conference that another $50,000 was added as part of performance bonuses for him.
So Volk going home with almost $2 million is not a surprise. On the other hand, his opponent Lopes also received $50,000 as performance bonus. But for the fight, he received $32,000 and a guaranteed $500,000 payout. The Brazilian star may have lost, but has gotten richer by an estimated $582,000.
The total payout for the UFC 313 could top $8 million as per rumors, with names like Paddy Pimblett and Jean Silva also having gotten a nice slice of the pie.
Pimblett defeated Michael Chandler, which was one of the ‘Performance of the Night’ title winners. As a result, Pimblett was awarded with a $50,000 bonus. It is estimated that ‘Paddy The Baddy’ will take home at least $400,000 for his appearance, rising quickly in the UFC ranks. He earned another $6,000 as his fees.
While Pimblett is set to go home with a minimum of $456,000, Chandler is likely to earn more than him despite losing to him. It’s because of a base pay of around $500,000 and $6,000 fees. Chandler has not received any performance bonus for the fight. It remains to be seen if Chandler manages to make more than $506,000.
Another fight that generated lot of interest was Bryce Mitchell vs Jean Silva. Silva won and with that, was declared the second ‘Performance of the Night’ winner too. It meant that Silva walked away with a $50,000 bonus as well, apart from the reported $58,000 as payout and another $4,500 as base pay.
Considering it was Silva’s 6th fight in the UFC, a payday of approximately $112,500 ain’t too bad. But again, due to his experience, Bryce Mitchell outweight Silva in his earnings. Mitchell is said to be guaranteed $250,000 for his appearance and $11,000 as base pay. So his total is expected to be at least $261,000 despite the loss and no performance bonus.
Patrício “Pitbull” Freire, a legit Bellator legend who made his UFC debut, supposedly earned just $75,000 for his fight against Yair Rodriguez. He also did not get any bonuses, having lost the fight. But he did receive $4,000 as base pay, taking his total earnings to around $79,000.
On the other hand, Rodriguez bagged $250,000 as appearance fees and another $11,000 as base pay, without any bonus. Yet, $261,000 is a good day’s work for him apart from clinching an important win.
Lastly, according to Sporty Salaries, light heavyweights Dominick Reyes and Nikita Krylov are set to take home $250K (apart from $11,000 as base pay) and $300K ($16,000 as base pay), respectively. Not bad at all for non-title fights in the UFC.
