UFC Fight Night Fairfax Salaries

[Wild]

Chad Mendes: $96,000 ($48,000 to show, $48,000 to win)
Ricardo Lamas: $35,000

Al Iaquinta: $46,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 to win)
Jorge Masvidal: $51,000

Michael Chiesa: $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win)
Mitch Clarke: $12,000

Julianna Pena: $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win)
Milana Dudieva: $10,000

Clay Guida: $100,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 to win)
Robbie Peralta: $18,000

Dustin Poirier: $68,000 ($34,000 to show, $34,000 to win)
Diego Ferreira: $15,000

Liz Carmouche: $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win)
Lauren Murphy: $8,000

Alexander Yakovlev: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Gray Maynard: $48,000

Timothy Johnson: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Shamil Abdurahimov: $12,000

Ron Stallings: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Justin Jones: $8,000

 

[teamquestnorth]

So Masvidal literally got robbed of 51k

 

[Morpheushasleftthebuilding]

still seeing that 8K for 5 years now......

 

[Wild]

still seeing that 8K for 5 years now......

Nah dude...they get paid more as the business grows. Derp.

 

[Cody Gibson]

The thing about fighter pay is this...do I wish we got payed more, of course. Do I think we should get paid more, of coarse. Have I ever been treated as good in any other promotion, or made as much money? Nope. On a side note, I wasn't 100% if I should use "payed or paid" or "course or coarse" so I decided to use both. I'm about 90% on the "course" but really no idea on the payed/paid haha

 

[teamquestnorth]

The thing about fighter pay is this...do I wish we got payed more, of course. Do I think we should get paid more, of coarse. Have I ever been treated as good in any other promotion, or made as much money? Nope. On a side note, I wasn't 100% if I should use "payed or paid" or "course or coarse" so I decided to use both. I'm about 90% on the "course" but really no idea on the payed/paid haha

Hopefully we'll see entry level UFC pay go up soon. It has gone up to 8/8 from 6/6 recently I believe.

I'd like to see the UFC pay for a 2nd cornerman to come out too.

The good thing is that their is the opportunity for the locker room and performance bonuses that other promotions dont have.

 

[Morpheushasleftthebuilding]

The thing about fighter pay is this...do I wish we got payed more, of course. Do I think we should get paid more, of coarse. Have I ever been treated as good in any other promotion, or made as much money? Nope. On a side note, I wasn't 100% if I should use "payed or paid" or "course or coarse" so I decided to use both. I'm about 90% on the "course" but really no idea on the payed/paid haha

euh, what about total pay?, now fighters the majortiy of fighters don't have any sponsors because of the reebok deal and after the deal they get paid less.
Other promotions have freedom of sponsers also the sponsers who moved away from the ufc could be popping up in that other promotion.

 

[Robbie Hart]

no shill or ufc puppet, but that makes £548,000 to the fighters.............how much are they, the mafia, making on this? Again, i'm not a "company man" just trying to understand, plus if you look at my posts, they ain't exactly from someone who is looking for trouble................

 

[Cody Gibson]

euh, what about total pay?, now fighters the majortiy of fighters don't have any sponsors because of the reebok deal and after the deal they get paid less.
Other promotions have freedom of sponsers also the sponsers who moved away from the ufc could be popping up in that other promotion.

If you aren't at the top of the heap, the sponsorship market is pretty dried up anyway. I talk to older fighters who use to make 15-20k in sponsors a fight back when Warrior, TapOut, and the like were around. My last four fights, I've averaged 4-6k in sponsors, but about 80% of that was from local companies who are supporting my efforts and their hometown guy, not from major corporate sponsors. If I relied on big MMA brands, I'd have probably only made $500-1k and maybe some free T-shirts.

 

[Zeph]

no shill or ufc puppet, but that makes £548,000 to the fighters.............how much are they, the mafia, making on this? Again, i'm not a "company man" just trying to understand, plus if you look at my posts, they ain't exactly from someone who is looking for trouble................

They get 90(100?)mil a year from the FOX deal, but that involves TUF as well and I'm not sure how much that would cost. FOX gets 35(33?) events from this. So that is almost 3mil per event from the TV deal alone, which isn't the only revenue source. Then you have live gates, which can vary significantly, but are probably a minimum of 300k.

After that you have sponsorships and international TV deals, of which the Globo(Brazilian) is supposed to be significant. I know Floyd Mayweather gets a cut of every beverage and food item sold in the arena, and with the contacts that the Fertitta's have, I wouldn't be surprised if they have negotiated something similar. Throwing out a number, lets say this comes to 500k per event, but I would suspect it is larger due to the Globo deal.

So to break even, in this complete guesstimate scenario, the UFC would need production costs of 3ish mil to be breaking even. I got a bridge for sale, never been used, if you think each fight night costs 3mil to produce, before fighter pay.

 

[Zeph]

UFC's Brazilian TV deals are a booming business - Bloody Elbow

$60mil a year from the Globo deal. So, yeah, a lot more than the 500k number I threw out there.

 

[ThatOneDude]

still seeing that 8K for 5 years now......

It's all they can afford, Dana needs his snowy driveway and that shit isnt cheap.

ALso good on Clay Quida

 

[Wild]

I'd like to see the UFC pay for a 2nd cornerman to come out too..

This is a big one right here. It's criminal that they only pay for one.

 

[ThatOneDude]

The thing about fighter pay is this...do I wish we got payed more, of course. Do I think we should get paid more, of coarse. Have I ever been treated as good in any other promotion, or made as much money? Nope. On a side note, I wasn't 100% if I should use "payed or paid" or "course or coarse" so I decided to use both. I'm about 90% on the "course" but really no idea on the payed/paid haha

Not sure if this is appropriate to ask or not so feel free to not answer, but what does a fight cost you. Training camp, coaches, corner, etc.

 

[Stillmatic]

UFC's Brazilian TV deals are a booming business - Bloody Elbow

$60mil a year from the Globo deal. So yeah, a lot more than the 500k number, I threw out there.

Wow.
It's becoming harder and harder to support the UFC.
Too bad for some of these fighters.

 

[Cody Gibson]

Not sure if this is appropriate to ask or not so feel free to not answer, but what does a fight cost you. Training camp, coaches, corner, etc.

For a fight camp, it cost me about $1500 in coaching fees. I'm actually really fortunate because my head coach does not charge me a dime and has never taken a dime from me (believe me, early on my career I tried to pay him several times haha). But I do pay my boxing coach, muay thai coach, and strength and conditioning coach ($500 a piece). I also pay my boxing coach in between fights or at very least add up the time in between and add it on after the fight. This is all relatively cheap. I wish I made more so I could pay them more, they deserve it. I'm currently working as a substitute teacher in between fights, but block out my schedule when I get a fight for 2 months or so, so I don't receive any income from normal work during fight camp either, but it's obviously worth it because I'm able to focus on fighting full time for that 2 months.

 

[Wild]

For a fight camp, it cost me about $1500 in coaching fees. I'm actually really fortunate because my head coach does not charge me a dime and has never taken a dime from me (believe me, early on my career I tried to pay him several times haha). But I do pay my boxing coach, muay thai coach, and strength and conditioning coach ($500 a piece). I also pay my boxing coach in between fights or at very least add up the time in between and add it on after the fight. This is all relatively cheap. I wish I made more so I could pay them more, they deserve it. I'm currently working as a substitute teacher in between fights, but block out my schedule when I get a fight for 2 months or so, so I don't receive any income from normal work during fight camp either, but it's obviously worth it because I'm able to focus on fighting full time for that 2 months.

Love the honest answers you provide here Cody. Most people would have danced around that, or not responded at all.

 

[Robbie Hart]

For a fight camp, it cost me about $1500 in coaching fees. I'm actually really fortunate because my head coach does not charge me a dime and has never taken a dime from me (believe me, early on my career I tried to pay him several times haha). But I do pay my boxing coach, muay thai coach, and strength and conditioning coach ($500 a piece). I also pay my boxing coach in between fights or at very least add up the time in between and add it on after the fight. This is all relatively cheap. I wish I made more so I could pay them more, they deserve it. I'm currently working as a substitute teacher in between fights, but block out my schedule when I get a fight for 2 months or so, so I don't receive any income from normal work during fight camp either, but it's obviously worth it because I'm able to focus on fighting full time for that 2 months.

Agree with IWEI, brings everything down to reality...............thanks for that info and you've got a new fan (whether you wanted me or not)

 

[easedel]

At some point there will have to be a fighters union formed.
At least for the UFC. All fighters should have a base yearly salary + their win/show money ( which could be on a sliding scale based on 3rd party ranking ). Incentives could be added per fighter, like ppv points yadda yadda yadda.

Yearly salary could be min wage based out of LV since that is basically the home of the UFC.

 

[lookoutawhale]

Love the honest answers you provide here Cody. Most people would have danced around that, or not responded at all.

agreed. thats a great post by @Cody Gibson

 

[Left Hook Larry]

Love the honest answers you provide here Cody. Most people would have danced around that, or not responded at all.

What about travel, food and the extra cornermen though. AFAIK UFC only pays for 1 cornerman and I usually see at least 2 in most fighter's corners. So that's a 2nd person to fly out/feed.

I wonder how much better a fighter could be with a big bankroll to start their career. Like what is Aldo had a big investor in him and he would be able to afford this/that early on in his career when he was making peanuts. Maybe though it would decrease his drive and desire since he's getting paid regardless.

I remember Brimage was living in a janky looking apartment and i'm sure with that level of income you can't afford the best organic foods and supplements.

 

[ECC170]

Honestly I think zuffa should have a base salary for training expenses..for example Cody get 400 per week for being on
the roster...That would be a huge help and relief for a fighter...and obviously show/win money...400 would go a long way trust me I would have loved that little cusion so I could focus solely on getting better...in the long run that help UFC for developing its talent..

 

[Cody Gibson]

What about travel, food and the extra cornermen though. AFAIK UFC only pays for 1 cornerman and I usually see at least 2 in most fighter's corners. So that's a 2nd person to fly out/feed.

I wonder how much better a fighter could be with a big bankroll to start their career. Like what is Aldo had a big investor in him and he would be able to afford this/that early on in his career when he was making peanuts. Maybe though it would decrease his drive and desire since he's getting paid regardless.

I remember Brimage was living in a janky looking apartment and i'm sure with that level of income you can't afford the best organic foods and supplements.

Yeah they only pay for one corner. Luckily two of my fights were in Vegas (so we opted to rent a car, which they payed for, and drive instead of fly), and one of my fights my teammate fought on in Brazil so we each brought a coach. The only time I had to pay for an extra corner so far was in San Antonio but you're right, that added cost sucks. As far as food, I obviously have to pay for my own food at home and during training camps, but they do hook you up with a good amount of per diem money when you get to the venue (usually Tuesday if you fight Saturday) so you're set for the week. Most of it usually goes to my coaches though because I can't eat a ton all week haha but its still good to have.

 

[ECC170]

cody 1600 a month would go a long way wouldn't it? Be a huge burden you would not have if ui could just put all your energy into improving...kinda like when we were kids wrestling and all we worried about was learning and growing..that's my perspective..

 

[Cody Gibson]

cody 1600 a month would go a long way wouldn't it? Be a huge burden you would not have if ui could just put all your energy into improving...kinda like when we were kids wrestling and all we worried about was learning and growing..that's my perspective..

For sure it would. Even back in the sponsor hay day I heard stories about guys getting month allowances so they could train full time and that was payed for by the sponsors. I'm sure a few of the top guys still get these kind of deals but not most. It would be nice to get a monthly check so I could focus all of my attention on fighting. I think that as the sport hopefully grows and a union is eventually formed thats where we'll be headed. Fighters who go into contract are guaranteed a certain amount each month while that contract is in tact, plus health benefits. Until then though, it's one of those things where you just have to make the best of it. With all that said, I'll still stand by the fact that the UFC treats its fighters better than any other promotion. You get paid better, get more exposure, get "discretionary" checks a few weeks after your fight, and get accidental health insurance, whatever that means haha. I got a staph infection a few months back and they covered the medical bill 100%, so that was cool.