On Saturday night, Madison Square Garden put on one of the most energetic and entertaining UFC cards in a long time.
Now that the dust has begun to settle, it’s time to look at the fighter payout for the evening, with the help of Sportszion.
After being treated to nearly an hour of action in the two title fights combined, fans will be eager to know who took home the Performance of the Night bonuses and how much Kamaru Usman and co. raked in for their stellar showings on the night.
It should be noted that the Nevada State Athletic Commission does not release details on fighter pay, so the current numbers are estimates based off of previously released official salaries.
Fightweek incentive pay includes outfitting policy, promotional duties and the code of conduct for a per-fight bonus in addition to a fighter's purse. Also none of the PPV figures have been released as they will be tallied over a longer period of time.
Basing it off their bout from UFC 245, we can expect that Usman and Colby Covington walked away with $500k each as a base salary for their welterweight championship bout - with this number potentially doubling once they are given their PPV shares for the event.
The Nigerian then took home an extra $500k in performance bonuses, as well as $42k in incentive pay. This takes his total earnings to an estimated $1,042,000.
As for the American, he took home an extra $250k for performance bonus and $32k in incentive pay, meaning his total is estimated at $782,000.
In the women’s strawweight championship fight, Rose Namajunas came out victorious over Weili Zhang for a second time, winning the bout via split decision.
It’s suggested that Thug Rose came away with a $110k base salary, and doubled her money for the evening by getting the win. Zhang was entitled to $100k base pay, but with sponsorships included, it brings her purse to roughly $132k for the evening.
The opening fight of the main card saw Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler battle it out in an intense lightweight bout, where “The Highlight” Gaethje was judged the victor. They were awarded the prestigious Fight of the Night bonus after their three-round war.
With his payment doubled for winning the fight, Gaethje went home with roughly $350k all together, whilst Chandler walked away with $164k.
Chris Barnett, Bobby Green, Alex Pereira and Marlon Vera all walked away with an additional $50k after being awarded Performance of the Night bonuses.