UFC 104 Fighter Salaries: Headliners Machida and Rua Top Payroll
UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who headlined Saturday’s UFC 104 event in Los Angeles, topped the pay-per-view event’s disclosed $922,000 fighter payroll, according to figures released Tuesday by the California State Athletic Commission.
Machida earned an event-high $200,000 for his controversial main event win over Rua, while “Shogun” received $155,000 for his efforts.
Other top earners included Joe Stevenson ($94,000), Cain Velasquez ($70,000), and Chael Sonnen ($54,000).
14,892 fans attended the card at the Staples Center, generating a $1,762,549 live gate.
The disclosed fighter salaries for UFC 104 were:
- Lyoto Machida ($200,000 – no win bonus) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua ($155,000)
- Cain Velasquez ($70,000 – includes $35,000 win bonus) def. Ben Rothwell ($50,000)
- Gleison Tibau ($38,000 – $19,000 win bonus) def. Josh Neer ($14,000)
- Joe Stevenson ($94,000 – $47,000 win bonus) def. Spencer Fisher ($26,000)
- Anthony Johnson ($27,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($15,000)*
- Ryan Bader ($30,000 – $15,000 win bonus) def. Eric Schafer ($13,000)
- Pat Barry ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Antoni Hardonk ($16,000)
- Chael Sonnen ($54,000 – $27,000 win bonus) def. Yushin Okami ($18,000)
- Jorge Rivera ($36,000 – $18,000 win bonus) def. Rob Kimmons ($9,000)
- Kyle Kingsbury ($16,000 – $8,000 win bonus) def. Razak Al-Hassan ($3,000)
- Stefan Struve ($14,000 – $7,000 win bonus) def. Chase Gormley ($10,000)
Remember, the salaries listed above are simply those reported by the UFC to the athletic commission and do not represent a fighter’s actual earnings.
In addition to their salaries above, Barry earned an extra $120,000, while Hardonk and Stuve each received $60,000 in “fight night” bonuses.
For more UFC 104 coverage check out MMAFrenzy.com’s UFC 104 section.
* Figures reflect Johnson forfeiting $3,000 ( 20% of $15,000 show money) to Yoshida for failing to make weight.
Pictured: Lyoto Machida
Tags: Anthony Johnson, Antoni Hardonk, Ben Rothwell, Cain Velasquez, Chael Sonnen, Chase Gormley, Eric Schafer, Gleison Tibau, Joe Stevenson, Jorge Rivera, Josh Neer, Kyle Kingsbury, Lyoto Machida, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Patrick Barry, Razak Al-Hassan, Rob Kimmons, Ryan Bader, Spencer Fisher, Stefan Struve, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Yushin Okami
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Sweet, Ive been anxiously waiting for you guys to post these.
Wow 200 grand for Machida.
I still think the undercard fighters arent paid enough, but thats my opinion.
Al-Hassan, only 3 grand.
I know he hasnt has any success in the UFC, but i say give him at least 5-10k.
Every undercard fighter deserves at least 10k IMO
Not saying he doesnt deserve it, but why did Joe Daddy get such a huge win bonus compared to Velasquez, Tibau, etc. ?
I agree.
Time was I used to call for fighter payout INCREASES, but these days I’m looking merely for fighter payout MINIMUMS, which I would put at 10 large.
I don’t think the half billion dollar UFC will go bankrupt with a 10K minimum policy, although seeing as how so much monies are paid out off the books, even guys like Razak Al-Hassan might have bagged more than the reported 3 grand from the UFC…
everyone in the big show should atleast be doing 20k per fight just my opinion any headliner 100-500k and championship fights should be 500=1 mil just my opinion but think that the company can afford to pay that in this day and age #### in 93 the winners were gettin 5k that was 17 years ago
If you go to that pay scale, headliners will lose money by losing their share of the PPV buys.
I think Razak Al-Hassan might be cut after this try.
3 months work,
not to mention the repercusions on the body later in life.
maybe guys who are merely top 20 need to golf to support their mma hobbies…
please tell me that there are some other incomes for that tier.
Stop trolling. There are sponsorships that make up more than half of fighter’s pay usually at that level. You’ve been around long enough that we shouldn’t need to go over this for you.
Wow, Machida got no win bonus. Does that mean something, or is that standard (i.e., the decision winner of a championship fight gets no win bonus)?
It’s not standard, just what some fighters agree to in their contract.
For example, Lesnar had no win bonus at UFC 100 (http://mmafrenzy.com/10948/ufc-100-fighter-salaries-lesnar-and-st-pierre-each-earn-400k-to-top-near-1-8-million-payroll/) and Nogueira’s salary was split 250/150 rather than a traditional 200/200 at 102 (http://mmafrenzy.com/11444/ufc-102-fighter-salaries-nogueira-and-couture-top-earners/).
Just a way to guarantee their money I assume.
Jenkins!,
The win bonus is usually tied proportionally to the guaranteed “show” money. The bigger their “show” money, the bigger the win bonus, unless their contract doesn’t include a win bonus, like (apparently) Machida and Brock Lesnar.
Swankcm,
Once again, that is not all the money they make, only the disclosed money. Championship fights usually get a PPV percentage. Not to mention, some championship fights do better PPV numbers than others, therefore some champions are worth more than others. While I understand the desire to pay a flat rate for a fighters position on a card, that is not fair to the fighters. A fighter that is a better draw should get a better pay day. IE. Chuck Liddell should get a better payday for fighting in a non-title fight, than Thales Leites fighting in a title fight, because hundreds of thousands more people will pay to watch him than Thales Leites.
Russian,
See my comment to Swank.
George,
It means that his contract doesn’t include a win bonus, nothing more or less.
Thanks for clearing up the lack of win bonus for Machida, Justin. That was what caught my eye as well. Man, the re-match is going to be fearsome!
these guys rely solely on the revenue they gain from these fights, and they dont fight that often. to make $3,000 as a professional athlete, especially a fighter, is like being spat in the face. UFC makes so much money on ads, PPV, and $1,762,549 on tickets, its ridiculous to get paid so little!!!
Actually, they don’t rely solely on the revenue they gain from these fights, they have sponsors, plus there is undisclosed money to be earned, plus if they don’t make enough fighting they can always get another job, heck Shane Carwin is still a working engineer.
And poor Chuck Liddell had to take a job as a dancing monkey on some TV show this Fall…
I agree with Justin here. No one has a RIGHT to make a living in anything. If they can make enough to not hold another job, good for them. If not, it’s time for a second job or a different career path.
wow, Yushin Okami’s pay was a LOT lower than I thought it would be. 18k for the guy who nearly beat rich franklin and gave mike swick his first MW loss? Also the guy who ko’d the returning Even Tanner (RIP)? I think thats a bit low really.
Low?
Most likely Dana is linking Okami’s ability to avoid injury with his payout…
I want to see Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir that will prove if Velasquez is for real. Then the wunner should fight the winner of Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin vs. Antonio Nogueria
And Anthony Johnson should fight the winner out of Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch. That will also test him to see if Rumble Johnson is ready for the likes of GSP.
Johnson is most likely done fighting at 170, unless he accepts this short notice 106 fight with Josh Koscheck.
IMO Johnson would get a lot more traction at 185, especially when you consider that Anderson Silva will reportedly be retiring in less than a year…
he has stated he plans to stay at 170 for now and then consider the move in another year, I have a feeling he wants to make the move easy on himself skill set wise.
Thanks for the 4-1-1, chrisl.
total bullsh!t
cant believe shogun got paid less for winning!
mother f#¤%ing robbery! literally, lost 50gs sh!t
He wasn’t robbed, he was paid according to the contract that he signed. When are you people going to learn that is how the world works? When you agree to a salary, you should have no expectations of being paid more.
And popular sentiment notwithstanding, Rua didn’t actually, y’know, WIN the fight…
That made me chuckle, jcohl.
And that’s saying something…