Media Derek Brunson made a lot more money in PFL than the UFC

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Brunson Made ‘A Lot More Money Than In The UFC’ For PFL Debut

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Derek Brunson started the latest chapter of his career on the right foot this past November 2023.

The former perennial Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Top 10 contender, Brunson, parted ways with the promotion midway through 2023 to sign with Professional Fighters League (PFL). No longer feeling like he fit with UFC, Brunson successfully debuted against two-time PFL Welterweight champion, Ray Cooper III, when he won a unanimous decision at the 2023 PFL Championship.

Financially, Brunson teased shortly after the fight on social media that he was paid handsomely and continues that sentiment to start 2024.

“For sure, my biggest payday ever,” Brunson told MMA Fighting. “It’s pretty good. It’s a lot more than the UFC, I would say that.”

In UFC, the show-win contract model has become the norm for the majority of athletes. However, the bigger flat-rate payouts have been common for most elsewhere in combat sports, leading to more enticement. An argument for the show-win model could be that it incentivizes excitement or the urge to win. Brunson doesn’t see the lack of a win bonus as a difference maker in not having to “worry” about it.

“If you get the right athletes, any athlete fighting at a high level wants to win,” Brunson said. “They’re not going to go out there and just say, ‘Oh, I got paid a lot of money, I’m going to lose.’

“But just being comfortable with how they’re taking care of you makes a big difference,” he continued. “They took care of me and I wanted to go out there and get the win, and still incentivize the win, but definitely an upgrade from my previous payday.”

Brunson, 39, enjoyed a lengthy run in UFC that lasted over a decade and saw him go 14-7 (24-9 overall) against some of the biggest names in the division. Amongst the biggest names Brunson battled were former champions, Anderson Silva, Israel Adesanya, and Robert Whittaker. Even in such match ups, he didn’t get the kind of compensation he’d expect or has heard about with some of the short-notice opportunities in the modern day.

“It’s crazy,” Brunson said. “It’s kind of disheartening when you hear guys like Kevin Holland say, ‘The fight with [Khamzat] Chimaev, I got paid crazy money.’ Like I would imagine he got $600,000 or something like that, short notice. Who else, I think Sean Strickland fought somebody on short notice, it was [Nassourdine] Imavov or somebody, but he fought him on short notice and got paid a lot of money. I’ve never been able to say that.


“I fought everybody,” he added. “Even like [Adesanya] — I didn’t have to fight ‘Izzy.’ I did it because it’s a big fight and I wanted to put on for the fans and put on a big fight. These are fights that I didn’t have to take but I took those risks and I really wanted to put on a good fight and give the fans something good.”
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they should just pay everyone a million dollars
 
PFL has the biggest prizes confirmed
 
I've never been a fan and have actively rooted against him since the Grove fight, but I'm glad he's getting some pay. He's a well-established veteran and deserves it.
 
in the industry I work in, I strategically prefer to work in smaller organizations because they pay higher salaries for talent. Whereas, larger corporations hoard all the profits to satisfy wealthy investors.

We are all navigating through the same capitalistic ideal. Whether you’re an MMA fighter or an accountant.
 
I know I'm gonna sound like I'm defending the UFC but I'm not.

There's been some threads about former UFC fighters talking about how they are making more money in other orgs, but, would they make this kind of money if they didn't get the name recognition that the UFC gave them?

But nevertheless, good for him.
 
UFC becoming a feeder promotion, make some noise in the octagon .. dip asap
 
sounds like a great business model for success, UFC needs to take notes, what could possibly go wrong? I just invested my entire net worth in PFL!
 
Ozze said:
I know I'm gonna sound like I'm defending the UFC but I'm not.

There's been some threads about former UFC fighters talking about how they are making more money in other orgs, but, would they make this kind of money if they didn't get the name recognition that the UFC gave them?

But nevertheless, good for him.
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The question remains as to why they are worth more money as a know name but the UFC doesn't pay them as established names. Izzy established his name in part by beating Brunson. Derrick should have been paid well for that. Shavkat is now more known for his victory over Wonderboy. Hopefully Thompson got paid for it as he didn't have to sacrifice his name value to build up Shavkat.

Any time a fighter has enough of a name that another Org will pay them more that has to be a big consideration. Fame doesn't always equal more money. Cage fighting shouldn't be looked at as an opportunity to become famous.
 
Big bucks to fight the great Ray Cooper III
PFL - Profit Funnelling league

<{anton}>
 
Ozze said:
I know I'm gonna sound like I'm defending the UFC but I'm not.

There's been some threads about former UFC fighters talking about how they are making more money in other orgs, but, would they make this kind of money if they didn't get the name recognition that the UFC gave them?
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That's not as meaningful as many think. What happened was he was a top fighter, and he cut a deal to make some money and make the UFC a lot more money. He took all the damage for a little money, they took no damage and got a lot more money. There was no charity on the UFC's part to allow him to fight in their org; it is not a situation he should thank the UFC for. He paid with brain and bodily damage for the name recognition he got from the UFC.

New fighters that start in the PFL won't make as much to begin with, but if they are as good as Brunson at his best, they can find their way to the top and make money.
 
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