ESPN reports that Brock Lesnar tops the salary list of mixed martial artists with a reported $5.3 million. The story appearing in May 2nd edition of ESPN The Magazine features the highest paid athletes in 30 sports.
The highest paid athletes were Alex Rodriguez and Manny Pacquiao with both making $32 million each. Rodriguez’s dollar amount was based on his 2011 salary and Pacquiao’s salary was based on an estimated purse for two fights.
The dollar amounts do not include endorsement deals or appearance fees. Thus, Rodriguez and Pacquiao could make well more than the $32 million.
Excluding sponsorships and any other revenue streams, Lesnar makes $5,300,000 based on his estimated prize money and percentage of UFC PPV share.
Payout Perspective:
Lesnar’s status as the highest paid MMA star is in line with the fact that he is the top PPV draw in MMA. The numbers do not lie as Lesnar fights averaged over 1 million PPV buys last year. With Lesnar appearing in only one fight in 2009, the UFC buy rate diminished. Regardless of what people think of his skills, he is someone people want to see and he is being compensated for this. Is it the spillover from his WWE days? Is it his persona? Or, is it his athleticism for such a big man? What is the allure of Lesnar that attracts so many to his fights? We should see similar results for his fight at UFC 131.
Well it’s his size and speed, of course. Think about it, other than that he’s not a very interesting guy.