Yeah I remember those ridiculous checks had some gymmates make like 100 bucks for a fight it is actually what deterred me from an mma career I wasn't going to give up a 35 k a year job with health insurance which was good around 2005 for entry level.
I figured 200 grand would have been crazy. Urijah faber was like one of the first underground guys to make 10 grand per fight in the smaller orgs he was a smarter negotiator back then.