BoxRec

I know this is a boxing forum and some of you are sick of those three letters but thought this may be of interest. These are the payments to fighters at the latest big UFC event (bear in mind they are rumoured to do close to 1m PPV’s):

Anderson Silva ($90,000) def. Nate Marquardt ($24,000)
Kenny Florian ($16,000) def. Alvin Robinson ($3,000)
Tito Ortiz ($210,000) vs. Rashad Evans ($16,000)
Sean Sherk ($28,000) def. Hermes Franca ($14,000)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) def. Heath Herring ($70,000)
Stephan Bonnar ($32,000) def. Mike Nickels ($5,000)
Jorge Gurgel ($14,000) def. Diego Saraiva ($3,000)
Chris Lytle ($20,000) def. Jason Gilliam ($3,000)
Frank Edgar ($10,000) def. Mark Bocek ($3,000)

Becomes clear how they can spend so much on marketing – they pay sweet FA to the fighters. The element I like though is that if they win their bout they get twice their guarantee (which is reflected in the above). Apparently there are extra’s for fight of the night, KO of the night etc as well as whatever they can earn through sponsorships.

Supply & demand - I guess that’s what happens when there isn’t really anywhere else to go

chinny wrote:I know this is a boxing forum and some of you are sick of those three letters but thought this may be of interest. These are the payments to fighters at the latest big UFC event (bear in mind they are rumoured to do close to 1m PPV’s):

Anderson Silva ($90,000) def. Nate Marquardt ($24,000)
Kenny Florian ($16,000) def. Alvin Robinson ($3,000)
Tito Ortiz ($210,000) vs. Rashad Evans ($16,000)
Sean Sherk ($28,000) def. Hermes Franca ($14,000)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) def. Heath Herring ($70,000)
Stephan Bonnar ($32,000) def. Mike Nickels ($5,000)
Jorge Gurgel ($14,000) def. Diego Saraiva ($3,000)
Chris Lytle ($20,000) def. Jason Gilliam ($3,000)
Frank Edgar ($10,000) def. Mark Bocek ($3,000)

Becomes clear how they can spend so much on marketing – they pay sweet FA to the fighters. The element I like though is that if they win their bout they get twice their guarantee (which is reflected in the above). Apparently there are extra’s for fight of the night, KO of the night etc as well as whatever they can earn through sponsorships.

Supply & demand - I guess that’s what happens when there isn’t really anywhere else to go

There's plenty of places for MMA fighters to go. Sure the UFC/PRIDE is the biggest but they could easily go to WEC,EliteXC,K-1,Cage Rage,IFL .... to name but a few.

The problem is that the UFC/PRIDE is the 'mainstream' organisation and so if a fighter wans to be recognised as the best then it will be there that they try to prove it. It doesn't help that the organisation is quite greedy keeping over 50% of all money generated or something. (Not too sure how that compares to boxing though.. How much of the total revenue do promoters tend to take?)

chinny wrote:I know this is a boxing forum and some of you are sick of those three letters but thought this may be of interest. These are the payments to fighters at the latest big UFC event (bear in mind they are rumoured to do close to 1m PPV’s):

Anderson Silva ($90,000) def. Nate Marquardt ($24,000)
Kenny Florian ($16,000) def. Alvin Robinson ($3,000)
Tito Ortiz ($210,000) vs. Rashad Evans ($16,000)
Sean Sherk ($28,000) def. Hermes Franca ($14,000)
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ($200,000) def. Heath Herring ($70,000)
Stephan Bonnar ($32,000) def. Mike Nickels ($5,000)
Jorge Gurgel ($14,000) def. Diego Saraiva ($3,000)
Chris Lytle ($20,000) def. Jason Gilliam ($3,000)
Frank Edgar ($10,000) def. Mark Bocek ($3,000)

Becomes clear how they can spend so much on marketing – they pay sweet FA to the fighters. The element I like though is that if they win their bout they get twice their guarantee (which is reflected in the above). Apparently there are extra’s for fight of the night, KO of the night etc as well as whatever they can earn through sponsorships.

Supply & demand - I guess that’s what happens when there isn’t really anywhere else to go

Just a few things, they've only done 1 million buys once, which was Liddell v Ortiz 2. This show is expected to do maybe 350, 000. Still a lot of money admittedly.

The top fighters will get a percentage of the PPV revenue. Silva, Ortiz, Sherk for sure, and probably Evans, Marquardt and Franca as well. That will be worth several hundred thousand dollars potentially.

You're right that there are bonuses for best fight, best submision and best KO which are worth $30,000 each, plus sponsorship deals as well.

Also, if you compare the pay with opening bout boxers, in the 4 and 6 rounders, they're only getting a few hundred quid in many cases.

Having said all that, they should pay more to lower guys, it's one of the reasons Frank Shamrock is so outspoken against them, calling them U Fight Cheap.

Another thing, due to the skyrocketing of their PPV's, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell earned around $6 million last year, and I believe Matt Hughes earned over $3 million for sure. The awesome Randy Couture will earn several million this year as well after his August heavyweight title defence.

The top guys are the ones who draw the viewers and buys.

chinny wrote:Becomes clear how they can spend so much on marketing – they pay sweet FA to the fighters.

The marketing surely pays for itself, and more.

So, it would make sense to spend a fair amount on marketing, even if they did take less of the takings.

MMA has only really taken off in the last couple of years, Zuffa are still in debt from rescuing UFC and seeing it through lean times. The purses are much higher than they were a couple of years ago and will only go up. Will be interesting to see how the UFC purchase of Pride affects the fighter pay, there are plenty of new promotions (Elite, Bodog) new to the scene with plenty of coin to throw about. That can only be good for the fighters in the long run. Not so long ago most of these days were working day jobs aswell as fighting so they've come a long way.

Their are many undisclosed bonuses that the fighters get paid that are almost as much as their winning purse.

I also have a feeling that a percentage of marketing like t-shirts and caps go to certain fighters if you buy certain products. Not much but when you think of the bonuses, PPV percentages, and perhaps product percent that they might get, they rake in some serious money. Dana White doesn't disclose what his fighters make but he admits that many of them are millionares (a couple times over was alluded too). Anyway it seems that they make tons of money and of course they will fight for a percentage less because win-or-lose if their exciting and use the exposure they get more big money fights. Not saying I'm a fan but there is something boxing could learn to use.

True there are lots of bonuses etc. The Xyience supplement sponsorship makes some of the more well known fighters a lot of money, White has a little control over where that money goes it is said. Main event fighters get a share of the PPV revenue too. For the NYE show Liddell and Ortiz made well in excess of 7 figures each.

I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

????

He'd also take a boxer down and smash him, so what? Boxing isn't the only combat form.

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

I watched a Winky Wright once.

Boring shyte. He would have those long arms dislocated by a decent BJJ’er.

What's your point David?

I don't really have one.

It's a taste thing I guess.

I just don't enjoy UFC, the fact Matt Hughes earned $3million last year amazes me.

But good luck to him.

DavidPayne wrote:I don't really have one.

It's a taste thing I guess.

I just don't enjoy UFC, the fact Matt Hughes earned $3million last year amazes me.

But good luck to him.

I bet Ronald earned more, and he has stunk out more joints in his time than Hughes!

Like you say - its a taste thing; horses for courses.

Anyone who has done a bit of grappling/BJJ is going to have a better appreciation for it/understanding of it than a layman.

Same goes for boxing.

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

What kind of shit is that to say, of course he'd get beaten by a boxer if he boxed but put him Mayweather in against the guy at UFC rules and Pretty Boy would be pretty fecked up, Hughes would dismantle any boxer with UFC rules. Once it's on the ground, its over

Don't see the appeal of two men hugging each other!

Hang on a minute, I watch Hatton fights...

Top Dog wrote:

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

What kind of shit is that to say, of course he'd get beaten by a boxer if he boxed but put him Mayweather in against the guy at UFC rules and Pretty Boy would be pretty fecked up, Hughes would dismantle any boxer with UFC rules. Once it's on the ground, its over

I'd say It depends on the man not the style.

Someones going to get busted up like Alabama man!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1TAvLL77eHw

Twisted Transistor wrote:

Top Dog wrote:

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

What kind of shit is that to say, of course he'd get beaten by a boxer if he boxed but put him Mayweather in against the guy at UFC rules and Pretty Boy would be pretty fecked up, Hughes would dismantle any boxer with UFC rules. Once it's on the ground, its over

I'd say It depends on the man not the style.

Someones going to get busted up like Alabama man!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1TAvLL77eHw

Dont know about that, I would put my house on Matt Hughes breaking Mayweather in half with UFC rules, every time Cause sooner or later he'll get taken down to the ground then it's all over.

Twisted Transistor wrote:

Top Dog wrote:

DavidPayne wrote:I watched a Matt Hughes once.

Boring shyte. He'd have his head jabbed clean off by a decent boxer.

What kind of shit is that to say, of course he'd get beaten by a boxer if he boxed but put him Mayweather in against the guy at UFC rules and Pretty Boy would be pretty fecked up, Hughes would dismantle any boxer with UFC rules. Once it's on the ground, its over

I'd say It depends on the man not the style.

Someones going to get busted up like Alabama man!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1TAvLL77eHw

Just watched the clip pure quality