Published 16:51 IST, November 4th 2019
UFC Salaries: Conor McGregor, Khabib, Nate Diaz salary revealed
UFC salaries have rapidly increased and the fight purses for its superstars have soared drastically. Here's a list of the highest-paid fighters in the UFC.
Over the past years, fighters pay scale in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has increased drastically, and the fight purses for its superstars are slowly, but surely, on the rise.
UFC - Growth as a spectacle and sport
There has been a rapid increase in the money being generated in mixed martial arts business as a whole. And as the UFC revenues soared, so did the earnings of the high-profile fighters.
Speaking of a fighters pay per fight, there is still a huge discrepancy between the sums earned by the bigger names in the promotion and the lower tier fighters. The pay scale, as one may guess is determined by a fighter’s standing.
The last paychecks of UFC's top fighters:
Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor is a global superstar whose fame and showmanship transcended the sport that he helped spread worldwide. McGregor is not only the richest MMA fighter in the history of the sport but one of the world’s highest-paid athletes today.
Conor McGregor earned a flat $3 million for his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, plus an undisclosed portion of pay-per-view sales. And let’s not forget his incredibly hyped encounter with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017 which grossed an estimated $85 million for Conor McGregor.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib is regarded as the best grappler in MMA whose win over Conor McGregor earned him mainstream recognition worldwide. Nurmagomedov reportedly earned a whopping $6m for his victory over Dustin Poirier last month in September. His earlier fight against Conor bagged him $2 million.
Jon Jones
The reigning light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has earned around $500,000 for his fight in July against Thiago Santos. According to reports, the champion has bagged a similar paycheck for most of his earlier UFC showdowns.
Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz has reportedly earned around $500,000 for his fight against Jorge Masvidal for the BMF title over the weekend. His earlier fight against Pettis made him around $250,000 which was half his recent encounter. Nate, however, earned his biggest paycheck in the organisation in his rematch loss to Conor McGregor where he made $2 million.
Updated 19:28 IST, November 4th 2019