UFC 71: Liddell, Jackson Score Big Paydays
The official fighter salaries for UFC 71 have yet to be released although numbers have been given out for the nights main event between Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson.
With the win, Jackson raked in just short of a half a million dollars, adding $450,000 to his bank account. Despite losing, Liddell had a bigger pay day than Jackson earning $500,000 for the sub-2 minute loss with another reported $500,000 going to him had he pulled off the win.
The salaries are the largest in UFC history and show significant increases over salaries from Liddell’s last title defense as well as Randy Couture’s win over Tim Sylvia. In the last UFC title fight at UFC 68 in March Couture earned a reported $250,000 for a win, just half of what Liddell earned in last nights loss. Former champion Tim Sylvia earned just $100,000 in the unsuccessful title defense.
For his successful title defense against Tito Ortiz at UFC 66, Liddell earned $250,000 flat salary with no win bonus showing that he has received a 100% salary increase between the two events.
Jackson too earned a boost in money as he earned $170,000 for his octagon debut victory over Marvin Eastman in February at UFC 67. The boost is likely a result of his new 4 fight deal which he signed with the UFC following his successful debut.
Full fighters salaries should be released shortly.
Tags: Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson
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I hope the “chedder” doesn’t kill the sport. I know there’s plenty of money to be had in the sport, but egos placed with that much $ could start problems = to what happened in boxing. I don’t want my favorite sport ruinned by popularity!
I hope it doesn’t mess with the sport either but a pay raise is inevitable considering how low some payouts had been in the past.
Are people really complaining about the meager amounts of money these fighters are making? Look at how much other pro athletes make. millions of dollars in 1 year, thats what people should wonder about. Fighting is a raw talent. I appreciate the efforts that these guys pu out and I think they deserve to be paid for it.
Really for years there has been talk of how much mixed martial artists because they put their bodies on the line and deserve to be paid well for it.\
The problem is really the undercard buys who get knocked out and earn just 2,000 from the UFC. Meanwhile the UFC made something like $40+ million dollars on this event alone. I know there are expenses to come out of that total but it is safe to say they are making a healthy profit and could afford to boost fight pay, particularly at the bottom of the UFC food chain.
In regards to Ron’s comment,
I can’t believe that’s how you think. The fighters absolutly deserve there piece of the pie. People pay to see the fighters fight, not to see Danna make money. Don’t get me wrong, Danna(along with fighters such as Chuck, Randy, Matt Hughs, the list goes on and on) made the sport(yes I said sport) what it is today.
nobody can deny that MMA is now officially a sport i mean c’mon a cover shot on sports illustrated…there OWN COLOUMN on the espn website…wat more proof do u need
Not to mention it was the most anticipated and popular event of the weekend in an ESPN poll. I am glad to say it has hit the main stream, although there is still plenty of room for expansion and growth.
[...] from UFC 71 have just been released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Despite what was earlier reported, Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson were only paid base salaries and no win [...]
Yes you are right it is "totally dude" a sport. More viewers have turned out to UFC then MLB and the NBA. (recently)
YOU BETTER BET YOU ASS OVER AT BODOG.COM that bigger Salaries are in the very near future!!!