UFC 115 Payouts

The disclosed payouts have been released by the Vancouver Athletic Commission for UFC 115 and Chuck Liddell leads the way in purse with $500,000 for his show fee. In total, over $1.2 million was paid out in disclosed money.

Courtesy of MMAWeekly.com:

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS:

-Rich Franklin: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus) def. Chuck Liddell: $500,000

-Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: $150,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus) def. Pat Barry: $11,000

-Martin Kampmann: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Paulo Thiago: $18,000

-Ben Rothwell: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Gilbert Yvel: $30,000

-Carlos Condit: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus) def. Rory MacDonald: $8,000

PRELIMINARY CARD (SPIKE TV) FIGHTERS:

-Evan Dunham: $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus) def. Tyson Griffin: $28,000

-Matt Wiman: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus) def. Mac Danzig: $24,000

PRELIMINARY CARD (NON-TELEVISED) FIGHTERS:

-Mario Miranda: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. David Loiseau: $12,000

-James Wilks: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. Peter Sobotta: $4,000

-Claude Patrick: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Ricardo Funch: $5,000

-Mike Pyle: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Lennox: $7,000

UFC 115 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $1,285,000

Payout Perspective:

I don’t have my own database in front of me, but this payout is probably within the top 15 in UFC history.

It has been noted that two fighters account for nearly 50% disclosed salary; and somehow that makes these payouts less substantial (relative to the payouts we’ve seen historically), but I don’t buy that argument.

There’s never going to be a fair distribution of the fighter pay, nor should there: you earn according to your skill level AND ability to put butts in the seats. Unfortunately, there’s often more weight given to a fighter’s ability to draw, but that’s the nature of the business. This is a business after all.

There was some good discussion in the TUF 11 payout thread talking about how the lower level fighters are now earning more money. Despite what you see from Sobottta or Funch, this is generally still the case. The average minimum payout has increased greatly over the last few years.

Does it need to come up further? Probably.

Will it? Sure. It will come in time – baby steps.