MMA Junkie reports the TUF 18 salaries from Saturday night. Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz were the top earners in a payroll of only $312,000 disclosed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Via MMA Junkie:
Nate Diaz: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Gray Maynard: $45,000
Julianna Pena: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Jessica Rakoczy: $8,000
Chris Holdsworth: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Davey Grant: $8,000
Jessamyn Duke: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Peggy Morgan: $8,000
Raquel Pennington: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Roxanne Modafferi: $8,000
Akira Corassani: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Maximo Blanco: $17,000
Tom Niinimaki: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Rani Yahya: $20,000
Jared Rosholt: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Walter Harris: $8,000
Sean Spencer: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Drew Dober: $8,000
Josh Sampo: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Ryan Benoit: $8,000
Payout Perspective:
It turns out that Ryan Benoit was the top earner of the night with $108,000. He received Josh Sampo’s FOTN bonus due to Sampo missing weight. A lot of $8K/$8K contracts here with Diaz’s $30K being the top winning payout. Interesting to see that Maynard made 3x more than Diaz’s base ($45K v. $15K). Diaz made $50K flat at UFC on Fox 5 last December but now is only making $15K to show.
The Rosholt-Harris matchmaking was pretty mind-boggling. Why pit these two prospects against each other? It just makes zero sense. Anyway, I for one was impressed with both. A Cole Konrad Rosholt is not.
Talk about low pay lol
It’s pretty sad that 2 guys who recently contended for the title (and one arguably should have won) are making such little money. I understand that there are locker room bonuses and other super-double-secret revenue streams for these guys, but the visual of Nate Diaz making $15k/$15k is hard to get over. It’s just not enough to have a successful career. And I’m defining successful as being able to retire at the age of 35 and not having to work again. Most of these guys will retire and be broke – which is not what you expect for guys who have been around as long and been as successful as Diaz and Maynard.
Guys at their level in boxing have opportunities for million dollar fights. And I equate their level as being roughly on par with a Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, or Austin Trout.
Word is that Nate Diaz/Mike Kogan worked out some sort of back-end deal with Zuffa as opposed to a large guaranteed salary.
When pressed on the subject, Kogan recently responded with “Cause I suck as a manager lol.” There’s something going on here…
Well, that super-double-secret back-end deal better be a lot. Because what they’re reporting is embarrassing.
How lucrative can the super-secret-back-door-deal be when Nate is always complaining openly about money?