How much does a UFC fighter earn?

Soccer, like many sports in the world, generates great profits for those high-level professionals, with sums reaching eight digits, either by contract or victories. However, in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, better known by its initials: UFC, things are very different. The fighters do not have contracts with any type of club that provides them with a fixed salary and similar to tennis, they earn money according to their victories or participation, the importance of the fights, the popularity of the fighter and other bonuses, making it a sport in which income can vary greatly.

According to the GQ magazine, these types of figures can be known because the Nevada State Athletic Commission – the headquarters of the sport – forced the UFC to make the payments public before competing. This rule took place in 2004, so as for the accumulated money of certain fighters, figures from UFC 46 are taken into account. On the other hand, the UFC has proven to be a company that moves large amounts of money, mainly thanks to Pay-per-View.

According to El Español, fights like Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov generated more than $ 2 million in Pay-per-View, more than mythical boxing fights like Mike Tyson against Evander Holyfield. The UFC's economic growth has been massive, taking into account that the company was bought in 2001 for $ 2 million, and then sold in 2016 for $ 4 billion, surpassing the value of any team in the NBA or of the most valuable football club in the world for that year, Real Madrid ($ 3,650 million).

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So: how much do fighters earn?

First of all, you have to start with the novice fighters, the least popular group who are not televised since they belong to the Early Preliminaries. According to MMA Equipment, these fighters earn between $ 10,000 and $ 16,000 just for showing up to fight, if they were to win, they would receive an extra $ 16,000. Likewise, Reebok pays these fighters $ 4,000 for being the official sponsor of the UFC, therefore a rookie fighter could take $ 36,000 in a victorious fight night.

However, this amount can increase significantly if you get a bonus, these can be for Knockout of the night, Submission of the night, Best fight of the night and Best performance, each of these bonuses is paid with $ 50,000.

The fighters with a little more recognition reach the Preliminaries, in this case, they are televised and build hype for the Stellar fights. Those who enter this ranking can get between 30,000 and 70,000 dollars for everything, that is, presentation, victory, and sponsorship of Reebok. However, these numbers can vary drastically if it's iconic comebacks or major fighters. For example, the Belarusian champion Andrei Arlovski went on to win $ 300,000 just for showing up, and the more popular the wrestler is, the more tickets and economic interests he moves.

When the fights are stellar, income can also vary. A challenger entering this category for the first time can receive up to $ 60,000 per submission, but if someone will fight for the title, they can charge $ 500,000 to enter the octagon. Obviously, this amount has been far exceeded by fighters of the stature of McGregor, who in his fight against Khabib received $ 3 million for participating, with no option to charge for victory, Khabib received $ 2 million that time. In the case of women, the retired champion Ronda Rousey earned 3 million dollars in her fight to take the title from Amanda Nunes. The Brazilian, for her part, received $ 200,000 despite being the current champion and winning the fight.

Who are the ones who have received the most money?

According to The Sports Daily, the 5 fighters who have accumulated the most money in the UFC have been:

5) Michael Bisping: $ 7,135,000

4) Anderson Silva: $ 8,112,000

3) Khabib Nurmagomedov: $ 8,680,200

2) Alistair Overeem: $ 9,569,500

1) Conor McGregor: $ 15,082,000

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Regarding the female top 5:

5) Holly Holm: $ 2,140,000

4) Joanna Jedrzejczyk: $ 2,292,000

3) Cristiane “Cyborg”: $ 2,300,000

2) Amanda Nunes: $ 2,731,000

1) Ronda Rousey: $ 4,275,000