UFC 118: Payout Perspective
August 30, 2010
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn II, which was held at the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday, August 28th, 2010.
Edgar Stymies Penn, Maynard Awaits
Frankie Edgar proved that UFC 112 was not a fluke with his dominating performance over BJ Penn on Saturday. Edgar’s quickness and striking precision proved to be too much for the slower Penn – once considered among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and virtually invincible at lightweight.
Many are wondering what this fight will do to Penn’s legacy, but I also wonder where he goes from here. In a way, Penn’s situation resembles that of Rich Franklin at middlweight; Penn is good enough to be top three in the division and defeat most contenders, but has now lost twice to the champion. However, unlike Franklin, Penn really does not realistically have the ability to jump up a weight class.
Penn’s value as a draw cannot be understated. He also has some intriguing fights left at 155lbs – Gomi and Florian among them. Thus, I suspect he’ll remain at 155lbs for now.
Call me crazy, but I almost wonder if he couldn’t drop to 145 lbs and compete in the WEC. His value as a draw to that organization (combined with the potential size advantage at 145) is very appealing. Imagine: Aldo vs. Penn. The WEC would have to pay him well more than they compensate any other fighter, but it might be a worthwhile investment for Zuffa if he can bring some more viewers to the promotion.
Gray Maynard now awaits Edgar, and barring any injuries it’s probably a fight that happens in late December or January. Edgar isn’t the star PPV attraction that BJ is, but BJ wasn’t exactly a huge attraction until recently, either. Penn had generated just 225,000 buys at UFC 80 and 475,000 buys at UFC 84 before finally breaking through as a draw alongside St-Pierre at UFC 94.
Edgar must be marketed to the MMA fan in a different manner than most other titleholders: he isn’t the trash talking type, nor is he going to sell fights based on being known as an exciting finisher or dynamic fighter. Edgar is a blue collar worker that’s known for his great boxing and exceptional bicycle. Traditionally, that type of guy hasn’t been that well-received until a few defenses into his title tenure.
Edgar is a great fighter with ample character and has a great story to tell. The UFC’s biggest challenge in the coming months will be finding a way to tell that story to the fans in a compelling manner. Perhaps a Primetime expose is in order for both Edgar and Maynard – two of the lightweight divisions most talented, yet under-appreciated fighters.
Couture Embarrasses Toney, Ends Debate
Toney did a good job to promote the fight and insert a sliver of doubt in the minds of MMA fans everywhere, but Randy’s low single exposed Toney as an MMA fraud and signaled to the world that the fight was going to be far less competitive than most could have even imagined.
I believe this fight has settled the MMA vs. boxing debate, but probably not in the way most think. This fight did not prove that MMA is superior to boxing. How could anyone possibly claim such a subjective statement as fact? It’s ludicrous. Instead, what I think this fight did is help both communities reach the consensus that these are two very different – albeit closely related – sports.
Most within the MMA community would be the first to admit that a top-notch MMA fighter stepping into the boxing ring would not fair well. UFC 118 will probably go a long way towards persuading unconvinced boxing fans of the similar fate their best and brightest would experience stepping into the cage.
Did Couture vs. Toney win over any new fans? I have my doubts. Most boxing fans that dislike MMA saw this bout for the freak show it was, and they chose to pursue other entertainment alternatives for their Saturday evening. If this event turns out to have performed better than average on PPV - which I believe is likely to be the case – it will have been due to the fact that the MMA community rallied to see the spectacle; one man representing the sport of MMA and millions of its fans.
UFC’s Debut in Boston a Success
UFC 118′s live gate of $3 million might be somewhat average for the organization’s debut in a major American market, but the event as a whole should be viewed as a resounding success. The UFC drew 15,575 to the TD BankNorth Garden for the event and another 30,000 on both days of the UFC Expo. The event itself may have been a little papered, but that matters little in the long run so long as fans are getting a live experience that is going to endear them to the sport for a lifetime.
Perhaps just as important as the live experience, the UFC also received a host of favorable press coverage in Boston from various media outlets, including the Herald and Globe. If casual fans weren’t interested in (or couldn’t afford to) attend the live events, they may have at the very least been persuaded to buy the PPV by the local media coverage.
Sponsorship Watch
Sinister made a splash at UFC 118 with the sponsorship of several fighters on the card, including James Toney. It wasn’t just that Sinister sponsored “The Dark Emperor,” but the fact that it used the sponsorship opportunity as an avenue to advertise its exclusive retail relationship with K-Mart. In addition to fighter sponsorships, Sinister also purchased presenting sponsorship status for the PPV broadcast.
I think a lot of people scoffed when they saw James Toney walking toward the ring with a large K-Mart logo on his chest, but I liked the strategy by Sinister. If you’re Sinister – if you’re any MMA apparel brand – you’ve got to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack. One way to do that is through distribution. Sinister doesn’t have the clout or the cash to gain access to Wal-Mart, but K-Mart is a willing partner looking to rejuvenate it’s own brand. The sponsorship strategy made a lot of sense for both parties.
The only critique I’ll make regarding the Sinister/K-Mart strategy was that the “only at” above the K-Mart logo was not as clear as it could have been, which might have led some people to believe that Toney was simply being sponsored by K-Mart (not that Sinister clothing was available only at K-Mart). Not a huge issue.
Strikeforce Houston Payout Perspective
August 27, 2010
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective! This week we’ll be taking a look at the Showtime event headlined by newly crowned LHW Champ King Mo, as he makes his first title defense against Brazilian top prospect Rafael “Feijao”.
The event took place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and featured 4 fights (2 title fights): “King” Mo Lawal vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, [LHW Title] Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza [Vacant MW Title], KJ Noons vs Jorge Gurgel, and Bobby Lashley vs Chad Griggs. On the Sherdog streamed portion of the undercard, André Galvão took on fellow Brazilian veteran Jorge Patino and recently crowned KOTC HW Champ Daniel Cormier took on Jason Riley.
Payouts and Gate
TBA
Attendance
MMAJunkie reports that Strikeforce: Houston achieved an attendance of 8,635 which would have to be considered a successful first trip for Strikeforce into the Lone Star State. The attendance number stands as second most attended event for Strikeorce this year.
- 11,757 spectators, “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum” (June)
- 8,635 spectators, “Strikeforce: Houston” (August)
- 8,196 spectators, “Strikeforce: Nashville (April)
- 8,136 spectators, “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” (May)
- 7,010 spectators, “Strikeforce: Miami” (January)
- 5,259 spectators, “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” (June)
Ratings
MMAJunkie reports that Strikeforce: Houston averaged 367,000 viewers with a 1.18 rating on Showtime last Saturday night, but peaked at nearly half a million viewers (470,000) with a 1.48 rating for the main event between Lawal and Feijao. The numbers are very good for an event that didn’t feature any big names like Fedor or Herschel Walker, but a key number to observe here is the peak number, which means more for Showtime because of the correlation between how many current and new subscribers are watching Strikeforce, which differs from the UFC, WEC, Bellator, and other promotions with TV deals (non-subscription channels) which are ad and rating dependent.
MMAJunkie points out where they fair, in terms of average viewers, compared to the other “Arena Series” Strikeforce events:
- 517,000 viewers, “Strikeforce: Miami” (January)
- 412,000 viewers, “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum” (June)
- 367,000 viewers, “Strikeforce: Houston” (August)
- 308,000 viewers, “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” (May)
- 164,000 viewers, “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” (June)
Storylines Coming Out of Event
There were 4 major story lines coming out of the event this past weekend.
1) Three of Strikeforce’s Most Marketable Fighters Lose (King Mo, Tim Kennedy, Bobby Lashley)
- Many are stating that Saturday night was not a good night for Strikeforce as 3 of their most marketable fighters lost their fight. Then again, this is nothing new to Strikeforce having just recently seen Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson, Gina Carano, Frank Shamrock, and Cung Le all lose within the past year. What one has to take away from this is that new stars have to be developed and marketed in order to able to jump right in when a star falters. A perfect example is the popularity Cris Cyborg and Miesha Tate have garnered after the “face of women’s MMA” Gina Carano lost and took a leave from MMA to try her hand in Hollywood. This is a sport and no one can control who will win or lose, but having good matchups and developing your young or unknown talent will definitely soften the blow and keep the flow of the promotion going.
2) Bad Officiating Marred Yet Another Strikeforce Event
- Josh Gross from Sports Illustrated does a great job at pointing out the poor officiating that was on display that night.
Referees are allowed to intervene at any point they want in a fight. They’re also allowed to restart bouts where they’ve been broken — usually when a fighter is the mount he or she is given the courtesy of reclaiming it.
Not tonight. Not according to Schorle, whose poor choice directly influenced the outcome of the fight.
- Josh also points out the punch KJ Noons landed at the end of the first round and the knee at the end of the fight.
Noons last attack appeared to be a knee to the head while Gurgel (13-6) was down and after the referee had moved in to stop the bout, though replays in the arena were inconclusive and neither fighter said they knew for sure if or where it landed.
Gurgel refused to assign any blame to Noons, pointing instead at the referee.
3) The O2 Can Controversy
- As rumors started swirling among the MMA media after some websites pointed out that both KJ Noons and King Mo used canned Oxygen, fans quickly started to use the words “cheaters” and pointing the blame at the fighters, but Mike Chiappetta of MMAFighting did a great job of getting the full story:
“Is there controversy about this?” Guerrero asked when reached by phone Monday morning. “The fighters didn’t use anything against the rules. When it’s something that’s not overtly prohibited or limited, it’s usually left up to the doctors at ringside, and we make the call on the spot. I think that’s what happened here.”
- Nick Lembo, the legal counsel for the New Jersey Athletic commission also commented on the matter:
In New Jersey, it is not allowed, but not because of the boost it could give athletes.
“We wouldn’t have a problem with the oxygen per se but the canister could contain most any type of vaporized substance in addition to oxygen that could include banned substances and it would be impossible to ascertain such at that point in time,” said Nick Lembo, the legal counsel for the New Jersey state athletic control board.
4) King Mo Out For At Least 9 Months Due to Knee Surgery
- Loretta Hunt from Sherdog.com was the first to report on the matter:
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal will undergo knee surgery to replace both his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee, which could sideline the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion for nine months, said his manager Ryan Parsons.
Sponsor, Promotion and Marketing Watch
- As the norm, we always want more marketing and promotion from most every Strikeforce event, and its a topic that they juggle everyday regarding their budget, resources, and strategic planning for each event, but I did see something that I thought was great, and that was the intro video to Strikeforce Houston on Showtime. It was one of the better done videos that I have seen by Showtime other than perhaps the CBS Strikeforce Nashville intro. At the moment, they shoot it and edit it 1 week out before the event and release it a day or 2 before, but they really need to release this 2-4 weeks before the event takes place. It would be a great promotional tool to get everyone pumped up for the event.
- All the usual sponsors where there for this event: FullTilt Poker, Rockstar, GoDaddy, ClinchGear, etc. As we like to point out here on MMAPayout, we always like to see more synergy between big sponsors and the promotions. We got a little taste of that from GoDaddy.com this time around, as they held a giveaway for lucky fans to win 2 tickets to the Strikeforce Houston event. We definitely want to see more of this from all of Strikeforce’s partners and sponsors.
- KJ Noons throws out first pitch at Houston Astros game.
- KJ Noons, Bobby Lashley, King Mo, and Tim Kennedy paid a visit to Houston’s Fisher House, VA Medical Center in Houston.
- Twitter : Good news for Strikeforce here, as the key words “#Strikeforce” and “#Jacare” were top trends during the evening of the Strikeforce Houston event.
That would make it 3 out of the last 4 events that have trended on Twitter for Strikeforce, with the latest having “#Strikeforce”, “#Sarah” and ”#Slam” trending from the Strikeforce Challengers event from Tacoma Washington, where Sarah Kaufman emphatically defeated Roxanne Modafferi by way of a slam, which made the “ESPN Top 10 plays of the weekend”. The Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum event also trended due to the shocking loss of HW great Fedor Emelianenko.
WEC 50: $275,340 Gate
August 26, 2010
The Staff at MMAJunkie are reporting that WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez earned $275,340 at the gate on the strength of 1,861 in attendance.
This month’s WEC 50 event officially drew an attendance of 1,861 and a live gate of $275,340.
….
Of the 1,861 attendees, 371 received complimentary tickets. The average paid-ticket price was $148, and 280 tickets went unsold.
WEC 50 marked the WEC’s first event at The Pearl since WEC 45 in December, which drew 1,741 attendees for a $102,700 live gate.
Payout Perspective:
There are a few things you have to consider when looking at this number:
1.) The WEC is paid a site fee by the casino to host the event, which means the gate revenue doesn’t necessarily reflect what the WEC took home that evening.
2.) By comparison, the UFC’s last event at The Pearl was the TUF 11 Finale which drew 1,708 fans for a live gate of approximately $430,000.
When people question whether the WEC is making money on these shows, you’ve got to look a little more closely than just subtracting fighter payouts and production costs from gate figures (which, themselves, are misleading). The WEC is also generating material amounts of revenue from Versus in the form of a television rights fee and money from sponsorship sales to the likes of AMP, MusclePharm, Harley, etc.
The television ratings may have been less than what was desired, but that has little to do with short-term profitability.
UFC on Versus 2: Attendance, Gate, Payouts
August 17, 2010
UFC on Versus 2 drew 8,132 fans to the San Diego Sports Arena on August 1 for a live gate of $489,685. The card was headlined by rising star Jon Jones and the experienced Vladimir Matyushenko.
The disclosed fighter (courtesy of f4wonline.com) and bonus payouts for the card are as follows:
Main Event
Jon Jones ($46,000) defeated Vladimir Matyushenko ($31,000)
Main Card
Yushin Okami ($46,000) defeated Mark Munoz ($22,000)
Jake Ellenberger ($24,000) defeated John Howard ($15,000)
Takanori Gomi ($80,000) defeated Tyson Griffin ($30,000)
Under Card
Jacob Volkmann ($20,000) defeated Paul Kelly ($17,000)
Matt Riddle ($24,000) defeated DaMarques Johnson ($10,000)
Igor Pokrajac $(12,000) defeated James Irvin ($20,000)
Brian Stann ($34,000) defeated Mike Massenzio ($5,000)
Charles Oliveira ($12,000) defeated Darren Elkins ($8,000)
Rob Kimmons ($18,000) defeated Steve Steinbeiss ($6,000)
Bonuses
Fight of the Night: Brian Stann vs. Mike Massenzio ($40,000 each)
KO of the Night: Takanori Gomi ($40,000)
Submission of the Night: Charles Oliveira ($40,000)
UFC 117: Attendance, Gate and Countdown Figures (Updated)
August 9, 2010
The Staff at MMAJunkie are reporting that UFC 117 drew 12,971 to the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California on Saturday for an approximate live gate of $1.56 million.
MMAPayout.com has also learned that Countdown to UFC 117 garnered just 409,000 viewers in its debut last Monday at 11PM ET/PT (Updated).
Payout Perspective:
The Countdown to UFC 117 number has been revised to 409,000 viewers, because I was originally given the viewership from a replay that happened later in the week. This is more in-line with what I would have expected.
The gate figure still seems a little low. I would have figured at least $2.0 million at the gate in a market like Oakland, especially considering all the press the UFC had done in the market (and California as a whole) over the last month.
However, Dana White was quoted as saying the “trending was insane” for UFC 117, and he suggests they did a big number.
We’ll have to wait for some early trending figures from Meltzer before we make any judgements and start to ponder the reasons for any would-be disappointment.
WEC 49: Attendance and Gate
July 8, 2010
MMAPayout.com has learned that the attendance for WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus was approximately 5,600 people and the average ticket price was $90, which together translate into roughly $500,000 at the gate.
The disclosed payouts for the event are not available, but the WEC did announce $10,000 bonuses were paid to four fighters:
Fight of the Night: Mark Hominick vs. Yves Jabouin ($10,000 each)
KO of the Night: Eddie Wineland ($10,000)
Submission of the Night: Josh Grispi ($10,000)
Payout Perspective:
I should note that the reported average ticket price may not be the actual average ticket price (dividing the actual gate by actual attendance), but this gives us a rough idea of how well the WEC fared in Edmonton. If it holds up, it’s a great result for the WEC and further proof of the substantial interest in Canada for MMA. The event managed to draw well despite the lack of a top draw or title belt on the line.
Take a look at how WEC 49 stacks up against some other notable WEC cards (courtesy of our Blue Book):
WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown — 5,227; $564,000 (Hollywood, FL)
WEC 38: Faber vs. Pulver II — 10,201; $486,000 (San Diego)
WEC 39: Brown vs. Garcia — 6,100; $280,000 (Corpus Christi)
WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson — 5,176; $298,000 (San Antonio)
WEC 46: Varner vs. Henderson — 10, 027; $550,000 (Sacramento)
TUF 11 Payouts: $406,000
June 22, 2010
The Staff at MMAJunkie.com are reporting that the total fighter payouts for The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale came to $406,000. Also note that the attendance and gate for the event have been reported at 1,708 and $430,250.
Court McGee: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Kris McCray: $8,000
Matt Hamill: $52,000 ($26,000 win bonus) def. Keith Jardine: $55,000
Chris Leben: $70,000 ($35,000 win bonus) def. Aaron Simpson: $13,000
Dennis Siver: $34,000 ($17,000 win bonus) def. Spencer Fisher: $26,000
Rich Attonito: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Jamie Yager: $8,000
John Gunderson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) def. Mark Holst: $6,000
Brad Tavares: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Seth Baczynski: $8,000
Kyle Noke: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) def. Josh Bryant: $8,000
Chris Camozzi: $16,000 ($8000 win bonus) def. James Hammortree: $8,000
Travis Browne: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus) def. James McSweeney: $8,000
TOTAL: $406,000
Bonus Awards:
Fight of the Night: Matt Hamill vs. Keith Jardine ($25,000 each)
KO of the Night: Chris Leben ($25,000)
Submission of the Night: Court McGee ($25,000)
Payout Perspective:
It wasn’t long ago that these events were paying $150,000 and the majority of it went to the headliners, but here we see that Hamill and Jardine received just 25% of the overall payout (granted, Leben made 70k). Additionally, no fighter made less than $6,000 in base and that’s twice as much as what the minimum used to be for some shows.
None of this factors in potential discretionary bonus pay or sponsorship money (which should, in part, be attributed to the UFC given that companies are usually sponsoring fighters to gain access to the UFC audience).
However, it’s also fair to say that fighter pay still has a way to go before every fighter is making a comfortable living. I question whether market forces will ever truly allow this to happen, but I also think the bottom pay for fighters has room to grow even under said market conditions.
Strikeforce: Los Angeles Draws Gate of $418,000
June 18, 2010
The Staff at MMAJunkie.com are reporting that Strikeforce: Los Angeles drew a paid attendance of 5,529 for a gate of $418, 061 last night for an event featuring Renato Sobral vs. Robby Lawler.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced the figure at the post-event press conference while reporting a live gate of $418,061.
The available seats appeared nearly full during the event, though Coker said the event was not a sellout, though the Strikeforce exec estimated the building was “about 90 percent” full in its scaled-down configuration.
Payout Perspective:
The gate is lower than previous Strikeforce on Showtime cards, but if you look at the per ticket averages, it seems to have drawn fairly well.
As a whole, the event was excellent and Strikeforce likely won itself some new fans. However, we’ll have to wait and see how well-viewed the broadcast was (which is one of Strikeforce’s problems). It doesn’t get a ton of exposure on Showtime; so, even if the fights are great, the broadcast doesn’t benefit from the same increase potential that a more widely viewed cable network like Spike or Versus might afford.
This problem is then compounded by the infrequency in Strikeforce’s communication with the media and fans. It doesn’t do enough to generate interest in the majority of the MMA fanbase, let alone casuals. Plus, the company will nearly be top-of-mind after a great event like last night’s, but then seemingly vanish off of the face of the earth for a few weeks (…or six).
Hopefully, this card and the Fedor-Werdum fight can help them generate some sustained momentum moving into this summer.
UFC on Versus 2: Salt Lake to San Diego
June 16, 2010
Jeremy Botter of Heavy.com first reported that UFC on Versus 2 was being moved from Salt Lake City to San Diego on Monday. This news has since been confirmed by the UFC as the organization cited poor ticket sales as the main reason for the move.
Las Vegas, NV (USA) – The UFC® announced today that the Sunday, August 1st UFC® LIVE event scheduled at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, is moving to San Diego, Calif., and will now take place live from the San Diego Sports Arena.
“Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong, and when we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales. As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to pull the plug and move this August 1st event to the San Diego Sports Arena,” said UFC President Dana White.
Payout Perspective:
I understand that the ticket sales were disappointing, but what did the UFC expect? It scheduled a mixed martial arts event on a Sunday evening in arguably the most religious city in the United States. This isn’t about the UFC’s popularity waning or even a dramatically reduced growth rate. It’s about a misjudgment the company made in scheduling the event.
In fairness to the UFC, it’s normally pretty sharp on this, but it does slip up from time to time. For example, it gaffed last year when it chose to schedule UFC 102 in Portland on the same weekend as the massively popular Hood to Coast Relay Marathon and LPGA’s Safeway Classic. These events significantly cut into the top end of the UFC’s market and that’s part of the reason it had to cut ticket prices (the other was that it just over-priced in a down economy).
These things happen – mistakes happen – but this is not a signal of MMA’s demise. Rather, this is yet again another illustration of the panic exhibited by members of the MMA community. The sky is not falling; in fact, the UFC is currently on track to beat last year’s PPV and gate totals (although it remains to be seen whether it can do so on the averages).
Moreover, I think many people are missing the big picture perspective, here: the first event in Australia or Germany or Abu Dhabi might not sell like an event in Las Vegas, but successive events will begin to yield stronger PPV and gate results, increased interest in the sport, greater participation amongst youth, and a better future for MMA as a whole.
But what can the UFC take from this? I think its got to be more cautious in terms of where and when it schedules events. The external operating environment doesn’t just consist of television ratings or demographic sizes; there are other considerations to be made (like competition from various forms of entertainment, for example).
UFC 114: Gate & Payouts
June 1, 2010
According to Dana White, UFC 114 drew 15,081 fans to the MGM Grand on Saturday, May 29th for an estimated gate of $3.895 million, which is good for the second best UFC gate in 2010 and the largest UFC gate in Las Vegas since UFC 100.
In other news, the fighter payouts were released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the $1,371,000 paid in disclosed purses is the third most in UFC history (behind only UFC 100 and UFC 92):
(Couresty of MMAFighting.com)
Rashad Evans ($250,000 salary, $185,000 win bonus) def Quinton Jackson ($250,000)
Michael Bisping ($175,000 salary, $15,000 win bonus) def. Dan Miller ($15,000)
Mike Russow ($12,000/$12,000) def. Todd Duffee ($8,000)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira ($80,000/$40,000) def. Jason Brilz ($11,000)
John Hathaway ($11,000/$11,000) def. Diego Sanchez ($50,000)
Dong Hyun Kim ($32,000/$32,000) def. Amir Sadollah ($15,000)
Efrain Escudero ($15,000/$15,000) def. Dan Lauzon ($15,000)
Melvin Guillard ($19,000/$19,000) def. Waylon Lowe ($6,000)
Cyrille Diabate ($6,000/$6,000) def. Luiz Cane ($19,000)
Aaron Riley ($10,000/$10,000) def. Joe Brammer ($5,000)
Ryan Jensen ($8,000/$8,000) def. Jesse Forbes ($6,000)
Total: $1,371,000
Please note that not every commission disclosing fighter payouts, so the $1.3 million isn’t necessarily the third highest total ever. Moreover, the UFC often provides material discretionary bonuses that extend beyond the disclosed pay that’s reported to the commissions, so $1.3 million isn’t the cap on what fighters made for the event.
The UFC also awarded several disclosed bonuses at the end of the night:
Fight of the Night: Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz ($65,000 each)
Knockout of the Night: Mike Russow ($65,000)
Submission of the Night: Ryan Jensen ($65,000)
