UFC Fighter Salaries - 2011

Was 2011 a good year financially to be a fighter? Well, that depends on what your name is. If it is Tito Ortiz, then yes, it was a very good year. On the other hand, if you happen to be Byron Bloodworth, you might want to consider keeping your day job. While the average UFC fighter made over $91,000 in 2011, 72 fighters (21%) made $10,000 or less. A few more stats that you might find interesting:

- While Tito Ortiz tops the list for 2011, he probably ended up making less in 2011 than in 2010. His new UFC contract doesn't give him a cut of the pay-per-view revenue like his previous contracts did. - The average household income in the U.S. is around $45,000 per year, yet overhalf of the UFC's fighters (51%) made less than the average American in 2011. Sometimes it doesn't pay to get punched in the face.


Now, for the salary results. It is worth noting that these are only the reported salaries plus Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses that have been made public. Many top performing fighters get additional bonuses paid out to them that aren't reported, plus the top guys get a cut of the pay-per-view buys for events that they headline (not to mention every fighter makes sponsorship money). Also, many athletic commissions don't report fighter's salary info, so for those we've estimated a fighter's purse based on what they have earned in their other recent fights. Fighters with some estimated purses are marked with a * in the database. This data should still be considered very close to accurate, as most fighters' purses remain rather steady from fight to fight (unless they ink a new contract in the meantime).


1 Tito Ortiz* $1,495,000
2 Michael Bisping* $850,000
3 Jon Jones* $785,000
4 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira* $750,000
5 Vitor Belfort* $620,000
6 Lyoto Machida* $604,000
7 Frank Mir* $575,000
7 Rampage Jackson* $575,000
9 Mauricio Rua* $565,000
10 Donald Cerrone $494,000
11 Junior dos Santos $485,000
12 Rashad Evans* $480,000
13 Anderson Silva* $475,000
14 Wanderlei Silva $470,000
15 Cung Le $420,000
16 Brock Lesnar $400,000
17 Forrest Griffin* $400,000
18 Georges St-Pierre* $400,000
19 Alistair Overeem $385,714
20 B.J. Penn* $375,000
21 Nate Diaz* $364,000
22 Frankie Edgar* $339,000
23 Cheick Kongo* $330,000
24 Dan Henderson $320,000
25 Chris Lytle* $310,000
26 Urijah Faber* $305,000
27 Clay Guida $301,000
28 Nick Diaz $275,000
29 Johny Hendricks* $270,000
30 Diego Sanchez $260,000
31 Randy Couture* $250,000
32 Martin Kampmann* $247,000
33 Jose Aldo* $225,000
34 Gleison Tibau* $224,000
35 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira* $210,000
36 Ross Pearson* $200,000
37 Kenny Florian* $195,000
38 Edson Barboza* $194,000
39 Ben Henderson* $193,000
40 Dong Hyun Kim $193,000
41 Melvin Guillard* $190,000
42 Chris Leben* $184,000
43 Brian Stann* $181,000
44 Josh Koscheck* $181,000
45 Brandon Vera $180,000
46 Mark Munoz* $180,000
47 Brian Ebersole* $177,000
48 Joe Lauzon* $173,000
49 Michael McDonald $161,000
50 Jeremy Stephens* $156,000
51 Dominick Cruz* $155,000
52 Matt Wiman* $155,000
53 Jake Ellenberger* $151,000
54 Mark Hominick* $151,000
55 Chan Sung Jung* $150,000
56 Jake Shields* $150,000
57 Mirko Cro Cop* $150,000
58 Miguel Torres $146,800
59 Anthony Johnson* $145,000
60 Pablo Garza* $145,000
61 Carlos Condit $143,000
62 Gray Maynard* $138,000
63 Chris Weidman* $134,000
64 Demian Maia* $129,000
65 Stefan Struve* $128,000
66 Brian Bowles* $127,000
67 Danny Castillo* $124,600
68 Shane Roller* $124,000
69 Jon Fitch* $120,000
70 Tony Ferguson* $116,000
71 Dan Hardy* $115,000
72 Nam Phan* $115,000
73 Yves Edwards* $112,000
74 Leonard Garcia* $111,000
75 Nik Lentz* $110,000
76 Thiago Silva $110,000
77 Sam Stout $108,000
78 Anthony Njokuani* $106,000
79 Dave Herman $106,000
80 Jim Miller* $105,000
81 Ricardo Lamas* $105,000
82 Bart Palaszewski $103,500
83 Travis Browne* $102,000
84 Vladimir Matyushenko $102,000
85 Brendan Schaub* $100,000
86 Cain Velasquez $100,000
87 Ed Herman $100,000
88 Matt Hughes* $100,000
89 Takanori Gomi* $100,000
90 Dennis Siver* $99,000
91 Kyle Noke* $99,000
92 Mark Hunt* $99,000
93 Thiago Alves* $99,000
94 Aaron Simpson* $98,000
95 Alexander Gustafsson* $96,000
96 Diego Brandao $96,000
97 Erik Koch* $94,000
98 Joe Stevenson* $94,000
99 Paul Kelly $94,000
100 Tyson Griffin* $93,500
101 Mike Brown* $92,000
102 Kyle Kingsbury $90,000
103 Nate Marquardt* $90,000
104 Renan Barao* $90,000
105 Terry Etim* $90,000
106 Ryan Bader $88,000
107 Charles Oliveira* $86,000
108 Joseph Benavidez* $86,000
109 Jon Olav Einemo $85,000
110 Jacob Volkmann* $84,000
111 TJ Waldburger* $79,000
112 Che Mills* $78,000
113 Jason MacDonald* $78,000
114 Mike Pierce* $78,000
115 Rich Franklin $75,000
116 Edwin Figueroa* $73,000
117 Jorge Santiago* $72,000
118 Rick Story* $72,000
119 Tim Boetsch* $72,000
120 Chael Sonnen* $70,000
121 DaMarques Johnson* $70,000
122 Stephan Bonnar $68,000
123 Matt Riddle* $67,000
124 Matt Hamill* $64,000
125 Lance Benoist* $63,000
126 Scott Jorgensen $62,000
127 Amir Sadollah* $60,000
128 Takeya Mizugaki* $60,000
129 Reuben Duran* $58,000
130 Luiz Cane* $57,000
131 Mike Pyle* $57,000
132 Diego Nunes $56,000
133 John Dodson $56,000
134 Roy Nelson $55,000
135 Raphael Assuncao* $54,000
136 Spencer Fisher* $52,000
137 Cole Miller* $51,000
138 Ben Rothwell* $50,000
139 Fabio Maldonado $50,000
140 Matt Mitrione* $50,000
141 Daniel Roberts* $48,000
142 Dennis Bermudez $48,000
143 Joey Beltran* $48,000
144 Cody McKenzie* $46,000
145 Dennis Hallman* $45,000
146 Jason Miller $45,000
147 Mark Bocek* $45,000
148 Thiago Tavares* $45,000
149 Yoshihiro Akiyama* $45,000
150 Pat Barry* $44,000
151 Rafael dos Anjos $44,000
152 C.B. Dolloway* $40,000
153 Charlie Brenneman* $40,000
154 Igor Pokrajac* $40,000
155 Michihiro Omigawa* $40,000
156 Nick Ring* $40,000
157 Shane Carwin* $40,000
158 Evan Dunham* $39,000
159 Allen Belcher* $38,000
160 Chad Mendes* $38,000
161 Dustin Poirier $38,000
162 Jared Hamman* $36,000
163 Jorge Rivera* $36,000
164 Krzysztof Soszynski* $36,000
165 Manny Gamburyan* $36,000
166 Matt Brown* $36,000
167 Paul Taylor $36,000
168 Paulo Thiago* $36,000
169 Waylon Lowe* $36,000
170 Ricardo Almeida* $35,000
171 Phil Davis $34,000
172 Alex Caceres* $32,000
173 Clay Harvison* $32,000
174 Darren Elkins* $32,000
175 Duane Ludwig $32,000
176 Justin Edwards* $32,000
177 Rory MacDonald* $32,000
178 Seth Baczynski* $32,000
179 Marcus Davis $31,000
180 Shamar Bailey* $30,400
181 Anthony Pettis* $30,000
182 Court McGee* $30,000
183 Dan Miller* $30,000
184 George Sotiropoulos* $30,000
185 Hatsu Hioki $30,000
186 Josh Grispi $30,000
187 Norifumi Yamamoto $30,000
188 Constantinos Philippou* $29,000
189 Demetrious Johnson* $28,000
190 Jimy Hettes $28,000
191 Josh Neer* $28,000
192 Mike Russow $28,000
193 Ramsey Nijem $28,000
194 Rousimar Palhares* $28,000
195 Yves Jabouin* $28,000
196 Rani Yahya* $27,000
197 Brad Tavares $26,000
198 George Roop* $26,000
199 Jason Brilz* $26,000
200 Javier Vazquez* $26,000
201 John Hathaway $26,000
202 Kendall Grove $26,000
203 Eliot Marshall* $25,000
204 Kurt Pellegrino* $25,000
205 Phil Baroni $25,000
206 Anthony Perosh* $24,000
207 Dongyi Yang* $24,000
208 Junior Assuncao* $24,000
209 Michael Johnson* $24,000
210 Mike Massenzio* $24,000
211 Rich Attonito* $24,000
212 Robert Peralta* $24,000
213 Yusin Okami* $23,000
214 Alessio Sakara* $21,000
215 Chris Cariaso* $20,000
216 Eddie Wineland* $20,000
217 Ivan Menjivar* $20,000
218 Mackens Semerzier $20,000
219 Ricardo Romero* $20,000
220 Steve Cantwell* $20,000
221 Aaron Rosa $18,000
222 Christian Morecraft* $18,000
223 Claude Patrick* $18,000
224 Cole Escovedo* $18,000
225 Curt Warburton* $18,000
226 Cyrille Diabate* $18,000
227 James Te-Huna* $18,000
228 John Makdessi* $18,000
229 Vagner Rocha* $18,000
230 Bryan Carraway $16,000
231 Chris Camozzi* $16,000
232 Chris Cope $16,000
233 John Albert $16,000
234 Johnny Bedford $16,000
235 Marcus Brimage $16,000
236 Paul Bradley* $16,000
237 Roland Delorme $16,000
238 Ronny Markes $16,000
239 Sean Pierson* $16,000
240 Steven Silver $16,000
241 Antonio McKee $15,000
242 Cub Swanson $15,000
243 John Howard* $15,000
244 Ken Stone* $15,000
245 Andre Winner $14,000
246 Nick Catone* $14,000
247 Eric Schafer* $13,000
248 Chris Tuchsherer* $12,000
249 Clifford Starks $12,000
250 Damacio Page* $12,000
251 Darren Uyenoyama $12,000
252 Donny Walker* $12,000
253 Erick Silva* $12,000
254 Francis Carmont $12,000
255 Jason Young* $12,000
256 Jeff Hougland $12,000
257 Paul Sass* $12,000
258 Rafael Natal* $12,000
259 Rob Broughton* $12,000
260 Stanislov Nedkov* $12,000
261 Tom Lawlor $12,000
262 Walel Watson* $12,000
263 Yuri Alcanatra* $12,000
264 Zhang Tie Quan* $12,000
265 Ian Loveland* $11,000
266 Aaron Riley* $10,000
267 Charlie Valencia* $10,000
268 Efrain Escudero $10,000
269 Jason Reinhart* $10,000
270 Jon Madsen $10,000
271 Karlos Vemola* $10,000
272 Kris McCray $10,000
273 Mario Miranda $10,000
274 Rafaello Oliveira $10,000
275 Ryan Jensen* $10,000
276 Sean McCorkle $10,000
277 Tim Credeur $10,000
278 TJ Grant* $10,000
279 Antonio Banuelos $9,000
280 Rob Kimmons* $9,000
281 Mike Easton* $8,800
282 Carlos Eduardo Kuhra $8,000
283 Chuck O'Neil $8,000
284 Danny Downes $8,000
285 Dustin Neace $8,000
286 Dustin Pague $8,000
287 Edward Faaloloto* $8,000
288 Greg Soto $8,000
289 Jake Hecht* $8,000
290 Jeff Curran $8,000
291 John Cholish* $8,000
292 John Maguire* $8,000
293 Jonathan Brookins* $8,000
294 Josh Ferguson $8,000
295 Kyle Watson* $8,000
296 Louis Gaudinot $8,000
297 Mike Guymon* $8,000
298 Philip De Fries* $8,000
299 Ryan McGillivray $8,000
300 Stephen Bass $8,000
301 Stipe Miocic* $8,000
302 T.J. Dillashaw $8,000
303 Nick Pace* $7,200
304 Kamal Shalorus* $7,000
305 Matt Grice* $7,000
306 Tim Hague* $7,000
307 Alex Soto $6,000
308 Amilcar Alves* $6,000
309 Dave Branch* $6,000
310 David Mitchell* $6,000
311 Dustin Jacoby $6,000
312 Felipe Arantes* $6,000
313 James Head $6,000
314 Jesse Bongfelt $6,000
315 Johny Eduardo* $6,000
316 Josh Clopton $6,000
317 Kenny Robertson $6,000
318 Luis Ramos* $6,000
319 Matt Lucas $6,000
320 T.J. O'Brien* $6,000
321 Todd Brown* $6,000
322 Willamy Freire* $6,000
323 Eddie Yagin* $4,000
324 Francisco Rivera $4,000
325 Jorge Lopez* $4,000
326 Joseph Sandoval* $4,000
327 Keith Wisniewski* $4,000
328 Maciej Jewtuszko* $4,000
329 Mike Lullo* $4,000
330 Mike Stumpf* $4,000
331 Mitch Clarke* $4,000
332 Papy Abedi* $4,000
333 Riki Fukuda* $4,000
334 Tom Blackledge* $4,000
335 Vaughan Lee* $4,000
336 Will Campuzano* $4,000
337 Byron Bloodworth* $3,200


http://www.mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighter-salary-database/salary-main/2011-year-in-review-ufc-fighter-salaries.html

2010 pay
http://www.mma-manifesto.com/ufc-fighter-salary-database/salary-main/2010-year-in-review-ufc-salaries.html

That's insane. Bisping got paid more than Jones FFS!! Jones 4 fights, including three title fights, got 65k less than a man, who fought twice (one of those a can)!!

Bisping has paid his dues, Pete.

Jones's next contract will probably be a lot more lucrative anyways.

manschesthair_utd wrote:Bisping has paid his dues, Pete.

Jones's next contract will probably be a lot more lucrative anyways.

Sorry Chesty, but I cannot see how $425k per fight can be justified for the likes of Bisping. I've never been a huge fan of Tito, but, he has done a lot for the sport, and certainly was a draw. Bisping? Regardless of my feelings towards him, I cannot see how he deserves that sort of payday (in comparison to others). Even if you have him as a 'contender', can you really justify paying him $230k more than Belfort (2 fights, 1 title fight), £245k more than Lyoto (2 fights, 1 title fight)? Is he a bigger draw than either? Than Jones? I don't understand mate.

It does seem crazy,when you compare his money to some other elite fighters(He gets 275k to show and 150k win bonus for each fight)but love him or hate him,he's just a bigger draw than alot of them and has been a marketable fighter for the UFC for a long time now.

ZUFFA don't pay out moneys to guys like that if they wouldn't be getting a fantastic return on their money.

I'd like to know what these fighters get paid for their coaching roles on TUF aswell.

manschesthair_utd wrote:Bisping has paid his dues, Pete.

Jones's next contract will probably be a lot more lucrative anyways.

He's never beaten a top 10 fighter, what dues has he paid that has justified paying him over 400k a fight??

payneNglory1 wrote:It does seem crazy,when you compare his money to some other elite fighters(He gets 275k to show and 150k win bonus for each fight)but love him or hate him,he's just a bigger draw than alot of them and has been a marketable fighter for the UFC for a long time now.

ZUFFA don't pay out moneys to guys like that if they wouldn't be getting a fantastic return on their money.

I'd like to know what these fighters get paid for their coaching roles on TUF aswell.

If Bisping was a draw then he'd be headlining PPVs in America. He's not so he doesn't.

Jones headlined 3 PPVs in the last year, and although none of them did very well because he's an unlikeable twat, he's should still be getting paid more per fight than the Cunt.

The amount Cung Le got paid to get beat up by Wandy is ridiculous. Especially compared with fighters who are way higher in the rankings, e.g Palhares ($28,000) plus he fought twice!!

Bisping helped attract a big market outside of the US,and that's why ZUFFA have used him more than any other foreign fighter to sell the UFC to that audience.
He has been the main event or one of the co main events on 6 English cards,2 Australian cards and a Canadian one.
(His face has been used on everyone of the posters for these events)

Plus in the last year or so,especially after the rivera and his TUF performance,he has become the most hated fighter in the US and he is playing up to that heal monika,people will tune in to his fights more now in the US,if nothing more than in hope of seeing him get Hendo'd again.


As for the pay figures,maybe since Bisping headlines alot of these cards that aren't PPV in the US,his pay is high because he doesn't have in his contract,like alot of the fighters on that list who's figures are surprisingly low,a percentage of the PPV's to add in as well.

Look at Machida's pay compared to Anderson Silva's,it wasn't long ago when machida was asking for Anderson money.
They both fought twice in 2011,yet according to these figures,Anderson should be asking for Machida money.

This isnt like most of the sports where you get paid salary based on your ranking (in competitions).

If Bisping and Cung Le managed to leverage that kind of salary then i congratulate them.

Im with MU, have this in my line of work all the time, if the employer can mug u off they will, so the only ones at fault are the idiot fighters that dont use bispings agent/negotiator

Overeems pay is weird, Maby its an odd amount because its in Euro's and thats what it translates into in USD?

Machida got a good bit extra in his paycheck for taking the title fight on short notice I hear.

I dont get Bispings pay either, as everyone has pointed out he just isnt that important a fighter to justify that sort of payday, he may "play a heel" or whatever but really he isnt ever going to be a title challenger but fair play to him he negotiated a deal far beyond what he is worth. Have to admire that!