MMA, or Mixed martial arts, is the fastest-growing sport today. UFC, on the other hand, is an institution that organizes MMA fights and one that has gained much popularity over the years for both the fights and the fighters. But just how much are fighters actually making?
Fighter pay has been a heavily debated topic for several years in the UFC. And while there is an average of how much UFC fighters get paid per fight, there are three salary tiers a UFC fighter can fall into. Let’s take you deeper into how it all works.
How much do UFC fighters get paid?
The primary way UFC fighters make moneyis through fights and the paychecks they receive from each. The fighters usually sign a contract for a certain amount of fights for a fixed amount of moneyeach time they step inside the Octagon.
The three tiers are low, medium, and high, with the lowest earning between $10,000 and $30,000 and the highest Tier ranking between $500,000 and $3,000,000 per fight.
New fighters usually get the Lowest Tier contract when they sign with the UFC. After a few wins and a reputation inside the Octagon, a better contract is signed to a middle tier, ranging from $80,000 to $250,000 per fight.
The fighter’s popularity and recent results affect the payouts each receives, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars.
UFC Champions and fighters with the biggest fan bases receive the best type of contract, the highest Tier: ranging from $500,000 to $3,000,000 per fight. The more viewers they pull in for the UFC and the more fans they have, UFC fighters can earn as much as half a million dollars to three million per fight, if not more.
While sometimes mistaken, both fight participants actually take home cash. Depending on the size of their fan base and the tier they fall into, they’ll take home their base earnings. Additionally, whoever wins earns an additional prize, which is sometimes double their base pay, though that typically only applies to the first two tiers.
Before then his last fight was a year before, in which he earned $30,000,000 for knocking out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. That’s $52,000,000 in two fights.
Are UFC fighters underpaid?
McGregor, however, does not represent all UFC fighters. The 33-year-old Irish fighter made a name for himself in the UFC, but thanks to many endorsem*nts and his Proper 12 Irish Whiskey brand, he became one of the highest-paid UFC fighters.
And unlike other major American sports leagues, such as the NBA and NFL, that pay their athletes 50% of total revenue, the UFC pays its fighters 16%- 20%.
256 fighters (42%) earned six-figures in 2021, up from 219 fighters (38%) in 2020. 116 fighters (19%) made less than the average U.S. income ($25,000). The highest-paid UFC fighter was Conor McGregor, with $10,022,000 (without PPV bonuses).
After a few wins and a reputation inside the Octagon, a better contract is signed to a middle tier, ranging from $80,000 to $250,000 per fight. The fighter's popularity and recent results affect the payouts each receives, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars.
According to International Business Times, there are three salary tiers that a UFC fighter can fall into: low, medium, and high, with the lowest earners taking home between $10,000 and $30,000, and the highest tier raking in between $500,000 and $3,000,000 per fight.
In most cases, you won't receive any sort of payment. If the promoter feels generous, he can pay for your gas money and a hotel room if you have to come from out of town, but even then, it's rare. If you're offered such an opportunity, you can expect payments ranging from $50 to $250.
It's reported that while NBA, NFL and other sports give around 40 per cent of their profits back to the athletes, UFC is around 18 percent. “It's a historic model that I guess will change,” Hearn added.
The UFC's minimum is $12,000 per fight, with a win bonus of another $12,000. So a first-time UFC fighter who wins his or her debut will make at least $24,000 for that fight. And if he receives a post-fight bonus, it could go to $75,000.
In 2022, fighter compensation tallies out at about 19 to 20 percent, a number that's been consistent for 11 years, according to Forbes. The base pay for a UFC athlete is $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win — a number many see as too low for the ultimate proving ground and one that White doesn't plan on changing.
UFC: leading fighter earning totals as of April 2022
Conor McGregor, aka Notorious, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter with the highest career earnings directly from UFC fights, with approximately 25.3 million U.S. dollars.
This expense covers training with the team, use of the facility and the guidance of the coaches and is between 5-10% of your fight purse. A fighter competing for 10k/10k (starting show/win pay for a new UFC fighter) and paying their gym 10%, would pay $2,000 with a win, or $1,000 with a loss.
It is not easy to become a UFC fighter. It takes exceptional fighting skills to get into the UFC. It will take at least 5-6 years to get into UFC if you are already into any combat sport. But if you are a beginner, you have to learn, train, compete and master at least one martial art to become eligible for UFC.
A UFC referee can earn from $500 to $2,500 per fight. This varies on their experience level, as an entry-level referee should receive a minimum pay of $500 per bout, while a veteran referee, like Herb Dean and Marc Goddard, bags a whopping $2,500 per fight.
But could (or would) a mixed martial artist be a successful boxer? The money in boxing is unquestionably higher than it is in the UFC/Mixed Martial Arts industry. The top boxers can get paid multi-millions of dollars per fight, whilst top UFC fighters get paid a mere couple of hundred thousand.
Because of the unpredictability of the UFC as a source of full-time income, many professional fighters treat it as a second career rather than their primary source of financial stability.
But adding just one new member every week puts annual revenues at $152,000. Adding two new members per week puts it at $204,000.” In the simplest terms, the success of an MMA gym is often just a game of getting people through the door and getting them to sign up.
So, it's not a surprise that many UFC fighters must work full time. It's weird to even think that your favorite MMA fighters can also work as waiters at the cafe. Or a person you just watched fighting on the ESPN card also comes up to be your real estate agent.
Fighters in boxing are involved with multiple promoters, organisations and TV networks across various different countries, while MMA centres mainly around the UFC and is limited to certain viewerships.
"Khabib probably made $10m. Conor [McGregor] makes probably $15-20m base. You walk into the ring, you get paid and guess when you paid? In the locker room, you walk back and they give you a cheque.
According to Forbes, Conor McGregor earned $43 million in 2022, making him the 35th highest-paid athlete of the year. This is a plunge from his previous ranking as top earner among all athletes. The Notorious was ranked number one by Forbes for his $180 million income in 2021.
As noted, yes, fighters in the UFC will get paid even if they lose a contest. However, the amount that they can get paid all depends on certain factors. As revealed by Way of Martial Arts, there are three different types of contracts that UFC fighters can be on: “Lowest Tier: from $10,000 to $30,000 per fight.
Unsurprising to most, fighter-ring girl relationships have been a frequent occurrence in years gone by, with some of the biggest names finding love in the Octagon. Here is a look at some of the most famous UFC relationships.
It's theirs.” With the a yearly subscription fee of $99.99 in addition to 13 pay-per-view events at $74.99 each, the annual cost to consume the entire UFC schedule without any discounts applied is more than $1,000.
The truth is the UFC can and does pay more than any other MMA promoter. Of course, fighters made more in the UFC — largely because the UFC is orders of magnitude larger than any other promoter in the sport.
As we can see, the biggest boxing fighters still earn more than UFC fighters (at least from theirs fighting sport), but on average UFC fighters probably earn more, because small professional and amateur boxers earn very little and usually have to pay everything for them selfs.
As noted, yes, fighters in the UFC will get paid even if they lose a contest. However, the amount that they can get paid all depends on certain factors. As revealed by Way of Martial Arts, there are three different types of contracts that UFC fighters can be on: “Lowest Tier: from $10,000 to $30,000 per fight.
In general, boxers get paid more than UFC fighters, for reasons we'll outline further in the next section. Though, it's worth highlighting that UFC prelims tend to earn much more (£10,000 – £20,000 on fight night) than similarly lowly-ranked boxers (£2,500 – £5,000).
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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