James Toney topped the $1.428 million payroll for Saturday’s “UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2″ event in Boston, as the boxing champ and MMA newcomer scored $500,000 for his first-round submission loss to hall of famer Randy Couture in the UFC 118 co-main event.
Other top earners included Couture ($250,000), former title-holder BJ Penn ($150,000), and lightweight champ Frankie Edgar ($96,000), according to figures released by the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission (via Sherdog).
The official UFC 118 fighter salaries were:
- Frankie Edgar: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn: $150,000
- Randy Couture: $250,000 def. James Toney: $500,000
- Demian Maia: $68,000 def. Mario Miranda: $8,000
- Gray Maynard: $46,000 ($23,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Florian: $65,000
- Nate Diaz: $60,000 ($30,000 win bonus) def. Marcus Davis: $31,000
- Joe Lauzon: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
- Nik Lentz: $22,000 ($11,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $10,000
- Dan Miller: $30,000 $15,000 win bonus) def. John Salter: $8,000
- Greg Soto: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. Nick Osipczak: $10,000
- Mike Pierce: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus) def. Amilcar Alves: $6,000
In addition to the salaries listed above, which are simply those disclosed by the UFC to the athletic commission and not representative of a fighter’s total earnings, Diaz, Davis, and Lauzon each earned $60,000 UFC 118 “fight night” bonuses.
MORE: UFC 118 results, UFC 118 recap, UFC 118 coverage
Pictured: James Toney
Latest
There’s going to be a lot of complaining about how much Toney made, but look…the UFC paid out almost a million to 19 other fighters. That is better pay than most journeyman fighters (which includes most of the card) could make as an equivalent level fighter in another org or on most boxing cards.
Besides, Toney made that to get whooped on and got fired. Stop the complaining in advance.
Too late for that I think, no matter if you were the first to post. For the most part people who’ve been watching and supporting this sport for years are going to be upset about this no matter what. I for one really hate to think that a large portion of what I spent on the ppv, with my hard earned money, went to this guy (#$!~%^), what a f….ng joke. You can say what you will, but he was the one pursuing Dana, if he wanted to prove something so badly, and this wasn’t about money, then Dana should of paid him the same that they would anybody else without ANY mma experience.
A negligible percentage of what you spent went to him. In fact, the number of boxing fans who bought this PPV likely more than made up for his payout.
I personally know of 4 people who bought this PPV solely because of James Toney. He was half of the most marketable fight on the card. Much like Lesnar or Kimbo getting large payouts when they showed up, the name sells PPVs, and those who get PPV percentages realize it and tolerate this.
These names don’t sell cards, folks. Frankie Edgar. Demian Maia. Mario Miranda. Gray Maynard. Marcus Davis. Joe Lauzon. Gabe Ruediger. Nik Lentz. Andre Winner. Dan Miller. John Salter. Greg Soto. Nick Osipczak. Mike Pierce. Amilcar Alvez. No one but their mothers tune in because of those names.
To a limited extent BJ Penn and Couture do draw, but it will depend on if they held a belt (neither did) and . And if any of these guys get a % of the PPV take, they ought to be kissing James Toney’s shoes for what he did for 118. Some fans won’t like it and will (wrongly) think that the $50 they spent went right into his pockets but…you can’t fight public ignorance, can you?
Everything I have read says that Toney was getting his pay regardless of PPV buys and he didn’t get a percentage. Unless you have concrete info to the contrary, a very minor portion of what you spent went to him.
You know, since probably half is gone before the UFC sees a cent.
Analysis of fighter draw since 2006. Couture and Penn don’t even drive cards.
Further
Analysis
of PPV Buys
@newfie – If this helps, consider that at the end of the day your supporting MMA, both financially and emotionally, is for the good of the sport, and not just an individual fighter or org.
Otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy, and I should know, I’ve been there myself ;)
I’ve spent literally thousands and thousands of dollars in the last decade on MMA in general and the UFC in particular.
Don’t you think it p!ssed me off watching Anderson Silva half-a$$ it at 112 when I paid good money to see a FIGHT, and not a clown show?
And I don’t know how many shows I’ve paid for where I got sh!t decisions or bad ref calls.
And I’ve been paying for Showtime for years to support MMA and other orgs, and they figuratively take that money and hand it to M-1 Global.
How p!ssed was I when Strikeforce agreed to work with them?
Extremely, because I wanted M-1 Global [not Fedor] blackballed in North America.
Not to mention I was livid at the thought of Fedor in the Octagon repped by M-1 Global.
Fedor on his own, more than welcome in LV.
Fedor with his poser posse?
Not so much, regardless of how many Russian hookers and ex-military make their money in Neon City.
My point here is that I’ve learned to see the big picture in terms of my financial and emotional investment in MMA.
I’m also sure that just as the amount of coin I’ve spent the last decade is larger than what some have spent, there are others who have spent me under the table, so to speak.
I personally know a doctor [and client] that has paid for 4 tickets for every Las Vegas UFC event since 2002, so I doubt he cares about the small coin in comparison that I spend on PPVs and walkout wear.
its all relative.
I’m not saying you don’t have a point.
I could have lived my whole life without seeing James Toney in the Octagon, but Dana does what Dana does, and for the most part its worked out ok for MMA, MMA fans, and Zuffa.
But its done, Toney got his UFC work-fare check, and he can go back to boxing and defend his WAMMA multi-weight title/s or whatever else he’d like to do with his life.
As long as I don’t have to see or hear from him again, or deal with him panhandling in Vegas for more Dana charity, I wish him a legtitimate vaya con Dios…
“A negligible percentage of what you spent went to him”. Wow what a statement.
Take all the negligible amount(of fans) out and will see where UFC stands.
Still alot of money for Toney but atleast it wasnt like around a million the yahoo guy posted
It may have been by the time sponsorships and back room money was paid out, but most fighters also get sponsorships (and more prestigious and wealthier sponsors).
I’m sure it was probably closer to million with the sponsors but i don’t care. Like anybody else, I wish he would’ve put up more of a fight, but he probably sold some boxing fans to this ppv, that maybe weren’t mma fans before. hopefully they are now, cuz it’s the best thing going. Just don’t ever bring him back, that was embaressing watching him run his mouth the way he did, and not do squat.
You can compare James Toney’s salary to the other 19 guys all you want. You can even shake off his salary with the idea that he got fired and it still doesn’t justify anything. He made more than BJ, Franky, and Randy combined. The elephant in the room here is that James Toney was waaaaay over his head in MMA, and unfortunately he was grossly overpaid for his ignorance.
As always, its important to remember that these are the on-the-books payouts.
Does anyone really think that all Randy Couture got for 118 was a quarter of a mil?
Or BJ Penn 150 large?
Top UFC draws usually get some bonus equal to a previously-agreed upon percentage of the gate and/or PPV buys, not to mention Dana’s famous “just because” envelopes.
Sure, Toney may have made more offical coin due to his one-time debut payout, and his kick from KMart, but I highly doubt Randy Couture went home crying the blues about his green.
The guy fights a few times a year and lives in a nicer house than the Govenor of Nevada ;)
BJ Penn on the other hand is almost always in some state of distress and dissatisfaction with Dana White, so maybe money is just another thing for him to get p!ssy about.
And as dbiz mentioned, the other guys on the card got fatter payouts then they would elsewhere, so who can reasonably b!tch?
Not to mention most high level fighters put it in their contract to get a percentage of the PPV buys. I’m pretty sure Couture is one of them. Not sure about BJ, but their sponsorships and other bonuses that aren’t released are usually well above their pay for the fight.
has anyone seen the PPV numbers for this fight? im wondering if it actually attracted all the boxing money that was prospective prior
They haven’t been released. The most I’ve seen is 1.1M for the prelims on Spike.
I posted a link above that is another site’s analysis of PPV buys with “name” fighters on the cards. Based on who was on the card (and totally forgetting the Toney factor) I would say that 118 would be lucky to hit 600K on the strength of the UFC’s regulars.
I’m not familiar with the site, but their MMAth seems pretty solid.
And I’m not a huge fan of sideshow over-promotion, but the economics are sort of hard to argue with…
I totally get what you said about Toney, I am fully aware that his salary was based on the fact that he would have generated ppv buys. I think I need to just get over it, I got to see Toney get his ass kicked, then get fired (Dana indicating he would never fight in the UFC again), and is now considered an embarassment in the mma world.
What I would like to hear is that some high level boxer somewhere got pissed off watching what happened to Toney, and on Monday morning he went to an mma gym and started training take down defense, with the intention of trying an mma bout in the future. I would actually like to see another boxer give it a try, just one a little more dedicated to actually learning enough to be competitive as opposed to Toney’s lackluster performance.
That would be nice, but it is likely to be: 1) A pretty alright boxer who has maxed out his ability and is not getting and will never get the big payday 2) Has had previous combat experience 3) otherwise disillusioned with the world of boxing. The guys that boxing is working for will not give up the truly massive paydays of a boxing ppv for the possibility of embarrassment in a cage somewhere. It is unfortunate, but true. But by the same token, no MMA fighter is likely to do the same thing in the other direction.
@bsbiz – I believe when Randy Couture was asked if he was offered a shot to box James Toney would he take it, his response was “I respectfully decline”, speaking to your point about MMA fighters stepping into a boxing ring…
@Bsbiz An MMA fighter might got the other way if they got a similar pay that the high level boxer is getting. Mayweather has gotten over $20 mil to fight. Offer someone like Silva or Couture even half that to box someone in their weightclass, and I bet they will go over in a heart beat. But will that draw in as much attention as a boxer going to MMA? Probably not, so it wouldn’t be likely.
I believe if fighters want bigger paydays then they need to start promoting the fights better. I know that fighters have a lot of respect for each other, but promoting the fight is important.
@jcohl,
Good points dude (on your comments to my post), I always enjoy reading your points of view, you manage to show someone a different way to look at things without being an ass about it. Some people post rebuttles to others statements in what seems like purposeful malice.
And just to clarify this whole Toney thing has in no way altered my loyal support of mma. I know the business is built around how much money can you make us, or how marketable are you, it just bothers me that the UFC makes so much money and they hand it out to this guy while there are other fighters out there who could have used it a lot more. Taking away BJ and Couture from the mix and Toney’s salary divided amongst the rest would have totalled an extra almost 30,000 per fighter. With all the work that goes into training, how much better would some of these lower tier guys be if they didn’t have to work a 9-5 job to pay the bills and could concentrate solely on their mma career.
Again, if I am wrong in any of my statements or you disagree I look forward to reading your comments.
There isn’t a UFC 118 Money Pool that gets somewhat evenly distributed to fighters. Each fighter signs a personal services contract for a mutually agreeable amount that includes things like ppv cut (if applicable) and win bonuses. The amount is dependent on things like time in the UFC, standing within the division, champion status (where applicable), etc.
Guys like Soto, Miranda, Ruediger, Salter, and Alves are on their first UFC contracts and are paid in the right area for entry contracts. Guys getting paid in the 10-15k range are probably on their second contract and guys in the 30-60k are well established, easily recognized names. Champions, many ex-champions, and other “huge draws” get a standard amount (100-250K), no win bonus, but a percentage of the PPV cut to make up for lack of win bonus.
Point taken, I guess they’re being given the opportunity from the beginning to prove they deserve a bigger piece of the pie.
That is the case for most fighters. Some, like Lesnar, immediately deserved more because of their value to the company. A PPV with Lasnar on the bill does – on average – 400,000 more buys than one without him….in any given year.
We have gone round and round about whether or not he has paid his dues, but his value to the company is undeniable and he is paid accordingly.
In Toney’s case, he instantly made an otherwise lackluster card worth buying for a lot of people and the UFC rewarded him for it accordingly.
I just think (and I know it goes against the payout=what you bring in) but if it was me, I know I could be a better fighter if my full time job was training, instead of working 8hrs a day I could train b/c I didin’t have to worry about bills and such. And I know this isn’t the way it works, just saying some of these guys may never live up to their full potential simply because of not having the resources to train like someone better off.
I don’t mean to single you out but one phrase sums that up perfectly. “Welcome to life.” I could be a lot better at my job if I had a massage chair and a harem of hookers waiting on me when I got home (or even the cash to afford said harem on an as-needed basis instead of retainer). But I don’t. So I do the best I can with what I have.
No one has a RIGHT to make a living doing what they love. The UFC has gotten a lot better with their pay scale. It used to be you’d see a bunch of 1k/2k fighters on cards. Now 6k is pretty much the minimum and that seems to be rising every year.
And of course, they all have approximately 22 sponsors on their pants, and more on the giant banners, plus t-shirts for everyone. Even the 6k guys are likely walking away with double that each time out.
Cost of James Toney appearing at UFC 118?
Reportedly half a mil.
Cost of Randy Couture appearing at UFC 118 to kick his a$$ out of MMA?
Reportedly a quarter of a mil.
The thought of dbiz returning home after a day of working and snarking to a “harem of hookers”?
Priceless…
;)
james toney did not throw one punch on his feet and spent 3 minutes on his ass before getting submitted, and now he gets paid half a million ….. what a fucking joke
*sigh*
See above.
This just goes to show you that Dana White knows nothing about negotiating. EVERYTHING Dana White said about James Toney started with “James Toney has been following me around the country for the last year…”. If he’s following you around, that means he wants to fight for you. It also means you have all the hand in negotiating.
If I were Dana, I would have said “you wanna fight in the UFC? If you lose you get nothing. If you win, like you seem to think you’re going to do, I’ll give you $2 Million dollars.” Instead James Toney put up less of a fight than an untrained guy off the street would have put up and made off like a bandit.
Dana is a fool for taking this deal. Good for Toney because he was the total winner in all of this.
“Dana White knows anything about negotiating?
Really?
Then exactly how did the UFC go from financial near-ruin [reportedly $40+ mil in the red] to an estimated 2009 value in excess of half a billion dollars in less than a decade, by accident?
Magic?
Not likely.
Dude, I get what you’re saying about James Toney.
I really do.
Not too many posters hammered the guy as often as I did, and hammered Dana White for extending him an opportunity to fight in the UFC.
But it seems like Toney will be worth his considerable weight in PPV buys, and the case was remade about MMA > boxing.
And at the end of the day everyone involved made money, just like you’re supposed to in business, and not just James Toney, so how is DW a “fool” and the chubby sh!t-talker that Couture embarrassed in like 3 minutes a “total winner”?
True about the amount of profit that the UFC has made under Dana White’s management, however I don’t know how much that speaks to his negotiating abilities. he’s a great promoter and a great manager, but I don’t think negotiating is his strong suit.
He still hasn’t secured a Primetime network TV deal after all these years. Strikeforce got one, but Dana White cannot? He’s still wallowing away on Spike, when I’m sure if he wanted to he could take the UFC and everything that airs on Spike and bring it to one of the big networks. Obviously there’s a lot more politics that go into such a deal than I know about, but if Dana is so great he could get a deal done and grow the brand exponentially more.
As for Toney. Let’s be honest, anyone who thought he had even a chance of winning, needs to give their head a shake. The guy came in fat and out of shape with barely any training. He threw one punch (off his back) in the entire fight and was beaten with such ease I was actually embarrassed to be watching this fight.
Yet, he still made the most money on the card. That my friends, is a winner. Toney was a 6 to 1 underdog. He went out and did what everyone thought he was going to do. And he made $500K. It’s embarassing for the UFC to have to publish such a number given to a guy who would not fared worse than you or I would have in that fight.
On the record, jcohl, I agree with 99% of the points you make on this board. Sometimes though, I just can’t resist debating with you…even if I lose ;)
The only, and I repeat ONLY, reason Strikeforce has a deal with CBS is because they bought the rights to it when Elite XC folded. The only, and I repeat ONLY, reason Elite XC got that deal is because they threatened to not renew their contract with Showtime, owned by the same company.
And what has it gotten them? Horrible production and Gus Johnson. WOW. That’s putting them up over the top…
The UFC has full control over production on their cable networks. They put on the best show, with the best and most knowledgable announcers and the best crews for getting high-quality shots during fights. No Strikeforce show can compare to the UFC’s when it comes to top-to-bottom quality of production.
I’m just as happy that the UFC isn’t on network TV. It wouldn’t be good for them because they would have to give up too much control of production. CBS, NBC, ABC…they will all want to use their own people because they’ve “done sports” longer. So, do you sacrifice all of your production for a little extra exposure…to the fans who thought Kimbo deserved to be UFC champion?
You have a very strange idea of success, my friend.
beautifully stated jcohl!
so much about a guy who will probably never have another mma fight…
I think everyone is being a bit critical of Toney. I thought before the fight went to the ground Toney was having the better of the fight and probably earned his money. Ha.