UFC 143 salaries released
February 6, 2012
MMA Junkie reports that the salaries for UFC 143 with Nick Diaz and Josh Koshcheck heading up the list. Diaz earned a reported base of $200,000 while Koscheck received $146,000 for his win.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission released the salary information today. The total UFC payroll for Saturday night totaled $880,500.
Via MMA Junkie:
Carlos Condit: $110,000 (includes $55,000 win bonus)
def. Nick Diaz: $200,000
Fabricio Werdum: $100,000 (no win bonus)
def. Roy Nelson: $20,000
Josh Koscheck: $146,000 (includes $73,000 win bonus)
def. Mike Pierce: $20,000
Renan Barao: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus)
def. Scott Jorgensen: $20,500
Ed Herman: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus)
def. Clifford Starks: $8,000
Dustin Poirier: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Max Holloway: $6,000
Edwin Figueroa: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Alex Caceres: $8,000
Matt Brown: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Cope: $8,000
Matt Riddle: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Henry Martinez: $6,000
Rafael Natal: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Michael Kuiper: $6,000
Stephen Thompson: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Dan Stittgen: $6,000
Payout Perspective:
Notably, Diaz and Werdum had flat fees for their work. Condit earned $110K with a $55K win bonus which means that he was only guaranteed $55K in a title fight. In comparison, Condit’s last fight before 143, he earned $34K plus $34K win bonus for a total of $68,000 (UFC 132 versus Dong Hyun Kim). Hopefully he received a locker room bonus for his fight. It looks like $6K was the bottom pay for the night for four fighters while three others received $8K.
UFC responds to ESPN piece
January 16, 2012
The UFC released its response to ESPN’s feature on fighter pay. Dana White introduced ESPN’s full-length interview of Lorenzo Fertitta and called ESPN’s story “a piece of trash.”
The response video is what the UFC calls the unedited version of Fertitta’s interview which implies that ESPN edited its story to fit with what it wanted to portray. In the UFC’s response, Fertitta points out that some of the boxers featured on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights received $275 and that the UFC pays its lower tier fighters much more than that.
Seems like a good comparison but for the fact that the UFC and boxing structures are different. Also, ESPN’s role in its Friday Night Fights is not the same as the UFC’s.
Bad Left Hook sets us straight:
First of all, ESPN is not a fight promoter. This is an enormous difference. For a UFC card on FX, the UFC is pretty much in control of everything. ESPN just airs fights. They have the right to turn down a proposed fight, but that’s about it. Everything is really up to the promoters of the actual fight card.
Fertitta claims, and I’m sure he’s telling the truth, that someone fought on Friday Night Fights in a four-round bout for $275. What Fertitta doesn’t reveal — or perhaps does not actually know — is that anyone in a four-round fight that winds up on the broadcast, on TV, was positioned in a swing fight that was going to air only if there was time remaining in the two-hour time slot. There are no four-round fights purposely scheduled to air on ESPN’s series. A four-round fight is the lowest level of professional boxing, and frankly to call the majority of four-round bouts “professional boxing” is kind of a stretch; the fighters don’t often resemble what we’re used to seeing on TV, even from the middle-of-the-pack guys that get on ESPN or HBO or Showtime. It’s kind of like comparing high school football to the NFL most of the time.
Additionally, Scott Christ reiterates the sentiments I have had when the UFC-Fox deal became a reality:
UFC wants to play with the big boys in sports now. That means attention from big boy sports media, and that inevitably leads to criticism and a realistic assessment of their product and their business. The rah-rah days are dying, and it’s because of White’s ambition as much as anything else. He’s brought them here. Now they have to accept where they’re at and what comes along with that standing.
How much Zuffa revenue goes to fighters is another issue in the fighter pay debate. Dave Metzler points out that without the financial information the percentage of revenue going to fighters is a moving target:
In an attempt to use figures based on Zuffa’s percentage of an 800,000-buy show, which is the rough industry estimate on UFC 141, the $3.1 million live gate, using listed fighter pay, announced bonuses, estimates of unannounced bonuses, and percentages of pay–per-view revenue built into the main eventers’ contracts, give you a very rough figure of 28 percent going to talent. However, for the Jan. 7, Strikeforce show in Las Vegas, with a very small gate figure and a full roster of fighters to pay, that figure could easily have been in the range of 50 percent.
Metzler goes on to assert that pro wrestling, not boxing, is a closer business model to the UFC:
The closest business model to UFC is that of World Wrestling Entertainment, which is believed to pay in the range of 13-15 percent of its total revenue to its performers. While some will argue WWE is a form of performance art and not a real athletic competition – and thus the performers don’t deserve as much money – the dollars WWE derives from its performers, who take a legitimate physical pounding, is every bit as green as those which UFC makes.
Payout Perspective:
I think the UFC response (minus Dana White’s usual pleasantries to opposition) is compelling but it obviously has some flaws. From a purely PR standpoint, its a good response to the ESPN piece. What would have helped the UFC in its response is if the UFC had some up and coming fighters state how much they are paid and agree that its great. Realistically, I think the UFC could have done this because I’m sure some fighters are just glad they are getting a shot. Having Serra, Liddell and Griffin talk is fine but they are all “company men”; well-established, past champions of the UFC.
If you didn’t read Metzler or Christ’s great piece over on Bad Left Hook, most people exposed to this debate would look at the UFC response and say, “Hey, that’s true. What about boxing’s pay?” But, its hard to compare the UFC to other sports league due to the difference in business models. The fact remains that with success comes scrutiny. ESPN, like every other TV investigative show, likely had an agenda when interviewing Fertitta. That does not necessarily mean ESPN is bad or “hates the sport.” But, it means that the UFC should be aware of the issues it now faces with more exposure.
ESPN investigates UFC fighter pay
January 15, 2012
ESPN examined the question of fighter pay in an article published earlier this week as well as a piece on its investigative show, “Outside the Lines.” OTL ran Sunday morning as it discussed issues of fighter wages and whether the UFC is a monopoly.
Dana White has denounced the article and promised a response. As MMA Fighting points out, White will likely point out factual errors with the piece but some of those errors deal with the fact that Zuffa, as a private company, does not have to disclose financial information which would reveal how much revenue Zuffa generates. The number could show how much it shares with its fighters. The OTL feature compares revenues of other leagues (NBA, NFL and NHL) with the percentage it shares with its players. However, that information is not publicly known for the UFC.
The article specifically looks at fighter pay in the UFC. No other organizations are featured in the piece to compare or contrast. Notably, the piece takes issue with the relatively low pay that entry-level UFC fighters receive – $6,000 a fight. On the other hand, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva make millions per fight with GSP making between $4-$5 per fight. Its not clear whether this amount is the base or (more likely) after inclusion of sponsor, bonus and PPV cuts.
The ESPN article also interviews an unnamed UFC Figher which revealed the following:
“Training expenses in an average year can run $22,000, and that’s with no travel. For a typical fight, you and your corner man share a room. You fly in on Tuesday and leave Sunday and get a $50 per day per diem. If you bring anybody extra, they take it out of your show money.”
He also indicated that locker room bonuses range from $5,000 to $10,000 although most are $5,000. These are the bonuses that are not included in the salary payroll or 3 bonus categories.
The article shows the difficulty in covering a very sensitive subject. In the ESPN and OTL feature, no UFC fighters would publicly comment with their name. As one fighter put it, “It would be the end of my career.” While ESPN does speak with a “Fighter X” no names are attached so Zuffa could still dismiss the claims made. Also, Ken Shamrock and Ricco Rodriguez have had past troubles with the UFC. Zuffa could easily claim their opinions are merely ones of spurned former employees.
Another issue to point out is that entry-level fighters still have training expenses such as gym, trainers, nutritional supplements and travel. These things are usually covered for top tier guys by sponsors or are written into their contracts.
Some interesting notes from ESPN’s interview of Lorenzo Fertitta:
• Since 2005, the first year the UFC became profitable, the company has paid more than $250 million to its fighters.
• 39 UFC fighters have become millionaires as a result of their earnings from the company.
• 29 fighters on the current roster receive a cut of pay-per-view profits.
• Since 2005, fighter pay has grown at twice the rate of revenue growth
MMA Payout will have more on the issue later this week. The story shows the great divide between entry-level fighters and the main event fighters. Its interesting that the question of a fighter union is not discussed more. Of course, if any fighter tried to put together an effort to unionize, they would be blackballed.
There is the argument that Zuffa is like any other private company. Entry-level workers start out with less pay while the best workers make the most. The company can decide how much (or how little) the worker is paid and what type of pay raise or bonus they may receive. The worker can take it or leave it.
With the UFC trying to move into the mainstream, we’ll see if this issue receives more scrutiny.
Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine Showtime Ratings and Salaries
January 10, 2012
MMA Junkie reports that the ratings for Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine earned an average of 344,000 viewers on Showtime. In addtion, Strikeforce salaries were released with Robbie Lawler topping the salary roster.
Strikeforce Saturday night earned a 0.93 household rating. It is the second-lowest rated Showtime-Strikeforce show for 2011-2012 out of 9 shows during the period. The low ratings occurred despite a free preview weekend on Showtime. It did compete with the NFL’s Saints vs. Lions game. But, its a disappointing 2012 debut for Strikeforce under the new Zuffa-Strikeforce contract.
The salary payroll totaled $566,000 with Lawler receiving $150,000 with no win bonus. Main event winner Luke Rockhold received $90,000.
Via MMA Junkie:
Luke Rockhold: $90,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
def. Keith Jardine: $30,000
Robbie Lawler: $150,000 (no win bonus)
def. Adlan Amagov: $10,000
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: $95,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Lorenz Larkin: $17,000
Tyron Woodley: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
def. Jordan Mein: $9,000
Tarec Saffiedine: $31,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Tyler Stinson: $4,000
Nah-Shon Burrell: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. James Terry: $9,000
Gian Villante: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Trevor Smith: $4,000
Ricky Legere: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Spang: $6,000
Estevan Payan: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. Alonzo Martinez: $5,000
Payout Perspective:
It will be interesting what Showtime will do to attract more viewers to its product. The ratings are disappointing considering the free preview allowed more viewers the opportunity to watch. A Tate-Rousey fight will be huge for the promotion (on many levels) in March. Unless we missed it, there were no Fight of the Night, Sub or KO of the Night bonuses. We’ll see if salaries will escalate for Strikeforce stars like Lawal and Melendez to compensate for not being able to jump to the UFC. Zuffa could offer its “locker room” bonuses to those stars as its form of compensation.
Overeem paid in full for UFC 141
January 4, 2012
MMA Junkie reports that Alistair Overeem’s fight purse for his win at UFC 141 was paid to Overeem although initial reports had Golden Glory’s lawyers obtaining an order to garnish his wages.
The problem was that a bond required to execute the garnishment order was not deposited. Thus, the order to withhold a portion of Overeem’s pay was not binding.
Keith Kizer confirmed that the Nevada State Athletic Commission did not withhold the pay.
Via MMA Junkie:
A UFC official confirmed that a $200,000 bond required to execute the order was not deposited prior to the event.
The order requested a check totaling $241,285.49 be cut from UFC parent company Zuffa to Golden Glory’s corporate parent, Knockout Investments. The money included Overeem’s show and win purses, performance bonuses and proceeds from the event’s pay-per-view broadcast.
The day before the court order, Golden Glory filed suit alleging heavyweight did not pay a 30 percent commission owed to the team for a fight in June against Fabricio Werdum. In his suit, Overeem claimed the team owed him $151,000 in back pay and asked a judge to determine whether his contract is enforceable.
Knockout Investiments (KOI) and Golden Glory representatives indicated that they would continue with this strategy:
“Seeking the initial writ was merely the first step in a long-term litigation strategy that KOI and Golden Glory will prosecute in Nevada. The writ of attachment remedy remains fully available to my clients and will be sought as to Mr. Overeem’s future pay-per-view payout, which we expect will be more lucrative than his initial fight purse.”
Overeem earns a portion of all pay-per-view revenue, including $2 per PPV purchase “for all revenues received by UFC-Zuffa for telecast of the Lesnar fight in the U.S., Canada or over the Internet in excess of $500,000,” according to an Overeem contract made public by the legal proceedings.
“Rest assured, now that we have had the opportunity to troubleshoot complex international hurdles – and without a long holiday weekend to contend with – future writs of attachment will be utilized to ensure that Mr. Overeem makes good on the commissions owed to my clients and his Golden Glory training team, who helped him achieve the success he now enjoys,” Lindblom stated.
Payout Perspective:
The writ of attachment and request to garnish Overeem’s wages is an indication of how heated this lawsuit will get. Of course, the failure to follow procedure in garnishment is a glaring error. It was inferred from by KOI and GG reps that there was trouble with legal procedure due to the Christmas and New Year’s holiday as well as the “international hurdles.” We are not Nevada attorneys so we are not privy to the type of proceeding that was initiated and the type of order issued by the judge. But as an example, in my jurisdiction a bond is needed in these type of proceedings in the event that the attachment is wrongful. The reason being is that in an attachment hearing (to garnish someone’s wages) there only need be a showing that the claims have “probable validity” and have “probable cause.” Thus, the threshhold to prove something could still be in doubt. In Nevada, KOI and GG had to put up a surety bond of $200,000 to garnish a portion of Overeem’s $385K fight purse. For whatever reason, it did not do so.
The other interesting fact out of this story is the amount of money Overeem makes. MMAPayout is in the process of trying to obtain a copy of the contract and will report on our findings once we receive it.
UFC 141: Payout Perspective
January 3, 2012
Welcome to another edition of Payout Perspective. This time we look at a special Friday night event from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada which featured Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem.
Overeem kicks Lesnar into retirement
There’s a reason why Lesnar went off as the underdog in Vegas. It was uncertain how Lesnar would do considering he came back from diverticulitis once again. The fight was a no contest for Overeem as one kick to the gut and Lesnar was done for the night.
Classy speech by Lesnar at the end of the fight. It was the right thing to do as his last two fights have been very disappointing. For Overeem, JDS is next in what should be one of the bigger cards of 2012.
Diaz boxes out Cowboy
A lot of trash talk before made this co-main event something to watch. Indeed it was the most interesting match of the night. Diaz used the “stockton slap” as the Cowboy just stood in front of him in the first round. Cerrone used some leg sweeps to score some points but did little actual damage to Diaz.
An impressive outing for Diaz as he’s moving up in the lightweight division albeit he came in at 157 pounds.
Hendricks knocks out Fitch
Johnny Hendricks left hand was lethal as he flirted with the UFC’s fastest KO record with a knockout of Jon Fitch. A disappointing end for Fitch who was coming back from shoulder surgery. The stoppage was warranted as Fitch went limp and Hendricks was right on top to deliver more punishment if he the fight wasn’t stop.
Hendricks puts himself in line for a title shot. He’s not in the express line to a shot but is definitely someone that should be taking a step forward in the next year.
Attendance and Gate
MMA Junkie reports that UFC 141 drew a reported 12,158 fans for a reported $3.1 million gate. The figures, as custom, were given by Dana White at the post-fight press conference. The numbers fall well short of the top 5 draws in MGM Grand history but it did much better than last year’s UFC 125.
Bonuses
The bonuses were $75,000 each and went to Johnny Hendricks, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone. Hendricks was the obvious choice for KO of the night while Diaz and Cerrone earned fight of the night honors. There were no submissions so no sub of the night.
Countdown to UFC 141 debuted on Fuel TV a week before the event and garnered a poor 15,000 viewers. Hopefully, the January 1st UFC marathon helped with marketing of the network as the new place for the UFC.
Salaries were released earlier than normal by the Nevada State Athletic Commission because lawyers for Golden Glory obtained an order to garnish the salary of Alistair Overeem. Of no surprise, Brock Lesnar topped the list. Overeem was set to earn $385K but was asked to garnish roughly 30%. However, it was revealed Monday that no bond was posted to garnish the salary as required by Nevada law. So, Overeem was able to receive all of his earnings. This will make the litigation between Overeem and Golden Glory much more contentious.
Sponsorships
Clothing brand RYU and wireless service provider MetroPCS became sponsors of the UFC this month. RYU was a sponsor to the “backstage camera” and MetroPCS had signage in the Octagon. RYU also sponsored Jon Fitch. Unfortunately for Fitch, the RYU walkout shirt was seen much more than on his shorts as the fight lasted just 12 seconds.
With the addition of MetroPCS and Gina Carano’s new movie, “Haywire,” the regular sponsors (SafeAuto, TapouT, Harley Davidson, Toyo Tires, Bud Light) were in the Octagon. Speaking of Haywire, Carano was in attendance and was interviewed about the movie.
Harley Davidson pumped up its Hometown Throwdown contest again.
MusclePharm had a special graphic shown during the tale of the tape before Overeem and Lesnar.
The Cowboy has used his hat to put sponsors on each side of the hat in the past and now he’s used under the brim. Way to use the real estate. Maybe that’s why he got so upset that Diaz flicked it off his head.
Jimy Hettes had sponsors AzadWatch.com and Palooka.com as sponsors. I noticed these two sponsors since they were on the back of his fight shorts and maintained dominant position on Nam Pham most of their match. Good placement for the two sponsors.
It was announced prior to UFC 141, that Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Everlast. I wonder what impact his retirement will have on the deal?
Post-UFC 141 Headlines
Lesnar retires, what now?
With the retirement of Brock Lesnar, the UFC lost its top PPV draw. A Lesnar card meant 1 million PPV buys was a certainty. With his departure, and the absence of GSP for most of the year and Anderson Silva out until at least June, the UFC is in a precarious PPV position as its lost its top three stars for the first half of 2012. Jon Jones could be the next PPV breakout star.
But, perhaps as when teams go without its star, it makes the rest of the team stronger and better. This can be a time that the UFC can build up its existing stars (Jones, Edgar, Diaz). Of course, Rashad Evans is another top PPV draw but will be on the Fox broadcast on January 28th. His next fight (fingers crossed) will likely be the long-awaited bout with Jon Jones sometime this summer (maybe Memorial Day weekend). What will the PPV buys look like in the first half of the year?
Young fighters impress
Jimy Hettes and Alexander Gustafsson made statements in their fights on the main card of the PPV. Hettes was impressive in his fight with Nam Phan and Gustafsson took care of the Vladimir Matyushenko. Both of these guys look to be moving up the ranks of their respective divisions.
Odds and ends
-Why no Joe Rogan post-fight interview for Jimy Hettes? He deserved some mic time.
-After Diaz flipped Cerrone’s cowboy hat earlier in the week, Diaz gave Cerrone his beanie after their fight. It looked like Diaz wanted Cerrone to give him his cowboy hat kind of like an exchange of opponent jerseys in soccer.
-The last live event on Spike occurred with little or no mention that the UFC-Spike relationship was ending. Of course, if you are Spike, you are still showing the UFC library so why mention it.
-I was in Canada last week and noticed Rogers giving a top 5 of Lesnar’s greatest fights. It was interesting to me that the number 1 moment was his win over Frank Mir and they showed his infamous rant after the fight (“going to have a Coors Light because Bud doesn’t pay me” and “get on his wife” comments). That’s something they would not play in the US anymore.
PPV issues
This was the first time that XBox users could purchase a UFC events through its XBox Live platform. As a promotion for this, XBox gave away 30,000 free PPV passes to watch the event. Unfortunately, technical difficulties destroyed the opportunity for anyone to access the UFC on XBox. To make amends, the UFC promised all that purchased the event on XBox, it would be able to see another UFC event for free. The problem with this, is that consumers are now weary of this method of watching the PPV and less likely to use this platform. We see that there are some glitches in the system and the UFC must fix them, restore trust and address this PR problem as well.
In addition to the XBox problem, I received notice that Rogers in Ontario, Canada had technical difficulties as well. People that purchased the PPV were refunded money as the cable operator acknowledged the problems.
These problems do not bode well for the overall viewership of the PPV. Even with Lesnar at the top of the card, the final number could have been better but for these issues.
UFC 141 salaries disclosed
December 30, 2011
MMA Junkie reports the salaries for tonight’s event. Brock Lesnar leads the list of fighters with $400,000 with no win bonus. The salaries were disclosed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission today.Alistair Overeem is second on the wage list with $264,285.71 to show and $121,428.57 win bonus.
The remainder of the card is as follows (via MMA Junkie):
- Donald Cerrone: $30,000/$30,000
- Nate Diaz: $37,000/$37,000
- Jon Fitch: $60,000/$60,000
- Johny Hendricks: $26,000/$26,000
- Alexander Gustafsson: $16,000/$16,000
- Vladimir Matyushenko: $40,000/$40,000
- Jim Hettes: $8,000/$8,000
- Nam Phan: $8,000/$8,000
- Junior Assuncao: $8,000/$8,000
- Ross Pearson: $20,000/$20,000
- Danny Castillo: $19,000/$19,000
- Anthony Njokuani: $12,000/$12,000
- Dong Hyun Kim: $41,000/$41,000
- Sean Pierson: $8,000/$8,000
- Efrain Escudero: $10,000/$10,000
- Jacob Volkmann: $16,000/$16,000
- Luis Ramos: $6,000/$6,000
- Matt Riddle: $15,000/$15,000
- Manny Gamburyan: $18,000/$18,000
- Diego Nunes: $12,000/$12,000
Payout Perspective:
Usually the salaries are not disclosed until after the card but it appears that the salaries were released as a result of Golden Glory’s legal team obtaining an order to garnish the wages of Overeem due to the ongoing litigation between Overeem and his former management team.
Via MMA Junkie:
The judgement applies to 30 percent of Overeem’s show and win purses, any performance bonuses he may receive, and any proceeds he may receive from the pay-per-view event per his UFC contract.
The $400,000 is Lesnar’s standard salary for every UFC fight (100, 121, 116) since UFC 91 when he received $450K (but that included a $200K win bonus). He was paid $250K per show prior to his raise to $400K at UFC 100.
11 for 11: No. 9 UFC’s big shows in Toronto and Rio
December 22, 2011
UFC 129 in Toronto was the company’s first stadium show which set records for attendance, gate and bonuses. The bonuses were the biggest ($129,000) in recent memory. It also held the first of two UFC Expos held this year. In the end, the UFC had a substantial impact on the economy in Toronto.
The card featured the showdown between GSP vs. Jake Shields, Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick and Randy Couture (in his final match) vs. Lyoto Machida.
UFC 129 was the biggest PPV buy of this year (excluding UFC 141) with 800,000 buys. We will see how it does in January for UFC 142 as Aldo headlines the card.
UFC 134 in Rio De Jineiro, Brazil was a return for the company. The show was a sellout and similar to Toronto, the crowd was hot during the entire show. Anderson Silva headlined the show by defeating Yushin Okami. Notably, the UFC promoted that it would air the prelims on a digital screen in the Little Brazil section of Times Square to watch the prelims. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Irene, this promotion was thwarted.
Silva scored major sponsors for UFC 134 including a soccer club, Burger King and Nike. He also starred in a Budweiser commercial that aired in Brazil.
Bonuses were huge as well with every category winner getting $100,000.
Unlike 129, UFC 134 did not score as well with PPV as it only garnered 335,000 buys.
The UFC’s return to Toronto this December did not garner as much fanfare as 129 but received a nice PPV number of 480,000 buys worldwide.
These two shows paved the way for international expansion for the UFC. 129’s stadium show displayed the type of draw and economic impact it could have over an area when it comes to town and its Rio show spawned UFC 142 and the first international TUF.
TUF 14 Finale salaries released
December 6, 2011
MMA Junkie reports the salaries for Saturday night’s TUF 14 Finale. Michael Bisping was the top salary at a whopping $425,000.
Via MMA Junkie as released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission:
Michael Bisping: $425,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus)
def. Jason “Mayhem” Miller: $45,000
Diego Brandao: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Dennis Bermudez: $8,000
John Dodson: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. T.J. Dillashaw: $8,000
Tony Ferguson: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Yves Edwards: $16,000
Johnny Bedford: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Louis Gaudinot: $8,000
Marcus Brimage: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Stephen Bass: $8,000
John Albert: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Dustin Pague: $8,000
Roland Delorme: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Josh Ferguson: $8,000
Steven Siler: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Josh Clopton: $8,000
Bryan Caraway: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Dustin Neace: $8,000
Payout Perspective:
Bisping made $275K to show and $150K for his win bonus. Is anyone else surprised that Bisping makes a base of $275K? Its more than Nick Diaz or Jon Jones made in their last fights (although its not clear if Diaz or Jones received a piece of the PPV buys). Perhaps its due to Bisping being a TUF alum and his appeal. He is a fighter that most either love or hate. He definitely is getting a main event salary as compared to others.
TUF 14 Finale Payouts
December 4, 2011
MMA Junkie reports the bonuses for The Ultimate Fighter Finale 14 which took place Saturday night at the Palms in Las Vegas.
Ultimate Fighter cast members John Dodson, Diego Brandao and Dennis Bermudez each scored bonuses which were $40,000 each. Brandao actually received two bonuses for submission and his Fight of the Night with Dennis Bermudez. Dodson won for his knockout of TJ Dillashaw.
In addition to the TUF Finale fight night bonuses, cast members Louis Gaudinot, Dustin Pague, Dodson and Bermudez won $25,000 each as a result of TUF 14’s fan voting for best KO, Sub and Fight on the show. Gaudinot and Pague won for Best Fight, Dodson for KO and Bermudez for Submission.
The Bisping-Miller main event looked better during the show than in reality as Miller looked tired as Joe Rogan described the fatigue as an “adrenaline dump.” Although scheduled for five rounds, the fight was a one-sided beatdown which mercifully was stopped. It will be interesting to see where both fighters go in the middleweight division after this result.
MMA Junkie also reported that UFC officials stated that attendance for The Pearl at the Palms was 1,649. No gate was reported as of yet. Earlier this year, TUF 13 at the same venue garnered 2,053.
Payout Perspective:
Despite the lackluster main event, the TUF 14 Finale had very good finals which displayed the reasons why fans should be excited about the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. The two runner ups will likely be in the UFC in the near future. The lower attendance figure (as compared to TUF 13 Finale in June) is likely due to college football and the Cotto-Margarito fight.
It is not known now whether the TUF bonuses will continue next season. The bonuses this season were a carrot for the fighters to take chances and put on exciting fights. The bonuses were an improvement by the UFC to help boost ratings. We will see if the UFC decides to continue this with Fox.
