The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale Salaries: Gouveia Tops Payroll; Escudero, Bader Earn $16,000
Wilson Gouveia
Despite forfeiting 20-percent of his earnings to opponent Jason MacDonald, middleweight Wilson Gouveia remained the top earner at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale, earning $36,800 for his first-round technical knockout victory. MacDonald was the second-highest paid fighter on the card, receiving $35,200 for the losing effort.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission today released the official salaries for the event, which took place on Saturday at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas and aired live on Spike TV.
All cast members of The Ultimate Fighter 8, including champions Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader, received $8,000 to show and $8,000 to win.
The total disclosed payroll for the event was $289,000.
The official salaries do not include bonuses and also exclude taxes, fees, sponsor payments, and other miscellaneous payments and fees.
Junie Browning, Dave Kaplan, Anthony Johnson, and Krzyzstof Soszynski each received additional $25,000 “Fight Night” bonuses for their efforts at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale.
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Fighter Salaries
- Efrain Escudero ($16,000) def. Phillipe Nover ($8,000)
- Ryan Bader ($16,000) def. Vinny Magalhaes ($8,000)
- Wilson Gouveia ($36,800) def. Jason MacDonald ($35,200)
- Anthony Johnson $18,000 def. Kevin Burns ($7,000)
- Junie Browning ($16,000) def. Dave Kaplan ($8,000)
- Krzysztof Soszynski ($16,000) def. Shane Primm ($8,000)
- Eliot Marshall ($16,000) def. Jules Bruchez ($8,000)
- Shane Nelson ($16,000) def. George Roop ($8,000)
- Tom Lawlor ($16,000) def. Kyle Kingsbury ($8,000)
- Roli Delgado ($16,000) def. John Polakowski ($8,000)
For a recap and complete results from The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale click here.
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Well i guess dana upped the minimum to 8,000 which is a little better for the fighters, i remember when fighters were getting paid 2,500-4,000 to fight
8k is better than they get in some other organizations, but still a pretty cheap card to put on in the end.
I have to give it to Junie, last night he won a nice match vs Kaplin and lets give him a standing ovation, but.
Lets see how he does in the new world or MMA and see if he can beat better guys, lets see, lets see.
Good job Junie, I was say this, because of you this is my first UF, I watched every show, and tooo see if you would mess up,you did but, its your game you played and it worked out for you.
Bader should change his nickname to Master. Good seeing the fighters getting paid more. I didn’t know MacDonald was getting that kind of money, don’t know if he deserves it either, even though he did get some from Gouveia.
What is the song playing at the very end of the card when escudero is walking around..?
never mind found it! kevin rudolf – let it rock.
bit harsh on burns only 7k, he was winning that fight imo until that headkick
We’ll see what happens when his contract comes up, johnboy. I suspect he was about the last of the fighters to sign when salaries were lower. Not gonna call it harsh, though. He signed the contract.
Even with the loss to AJ I expect to see Burns get a raise on his next contract.
I liked Burns. I will no longer refer to him as B***H Slap Burns. I thought he fought great, definetely will see more of him.
Junie should change his nickname to Junie “Three Stikes” Browning. Sounds better/less obvious than “lunatic.”
Losing was best thing for Nover. He gets out from under the outrageous expectations, plus it’s not like UFC is not going to snap him up anyway.