The 20 Highest-Paid UFC Fighters of All Time...

[El Fernas]

Andrei Arlovski is the one who really made out like a bandit. I am surprised though that Ronda Rousey is not on that list. She is still likely the biggest Women's MMA draw of all time and she drew people in during her reign.

A lot of those on the list made it there because they fought a lot of times while having very good contracts, she probably got decent money but didnt fought that much.

here is no way Khabib should have made more money than jones.

You are most likely right, but the UFC mostly pays in PPV points, Jones has earned way more than Khabib, but at the end of his run he got (allegedly) a 6 million purse, i believe against Poirier, that one alone makes up for a lot of spots on that list.

She should be but the list is BS she definitely made enough to be on this list.

Court documents showed Rampage made $15m during his first UFC run and he's not even on the list.

Average purses + big PPV cut, this is most likely based off the disclosed purse, that very few if not only CSAC actually discloses, and even then, its not the only pay they get.

 

[JKS]

Those numbers aren't everything. GSP made far more than than, he made 10 mill for the Bisping fight alone. Conor made well over 30 million for Khabib and Khabib was making over 6 mill a fight from Conor to Gaethje. When you include PPV. Lesnar made 8 million a fight himself and that came out during the Francis negotiations.

 

[Darkavius]

A lot of those on the list made it there because they fought a lot of times while having very good contracts, she probably got decent money but didnt fought that much.

I don't think this is correct. She was very active as a fighter. She fought 8 times in 3 years in the UFC. That's far more than most fighters including champions today. On top of that she fought when PPV buys actually meant something. I mean take the Bethe Correia fight, for example, you could easily argue Correia wasn't a good fight and even knowing that the buyrate for that was 900,000 PPV buys.

 

[El Fernas]

I don't think this is correct. She was very active as a fighter. She fought 8 times in 3 years in the UFC. That's far more than most fighters including champions today. On top of that she fought when PPV buys actually meant something. I mean take the Bethe Correia fight, for example, you could easily argue Correia wasn't a good fight and even knowing that the buyrate for that was 900,000 PPV buys.

Its all about her contract too, Bisping fought 29 times, Overeem 20 times, Miocic 19 times, Anderson Silva 24 times, and so on, you see the point now? 8 times is nothing when compared to those guys, and again, the list seems purse based, the total earnings only the IRS knows, and that list would be different.

 

[andgonsil]

Pereira is richer than Izzy

He only needs a dog to surpass him in every area.

 

[Ozze]

Hard to believe Khabib made more money than Jones.

 

[VinceArch]

That don't even make any sense lol

Seriously. I do question the validity of this list.

 

[InQadible]

Lesnar really got underpaid considering that he was argubaly the 2nd biggest needle mover in UFC history after Conor.

 

[Ghostoftheville]

Damn. Mark Hunt made out like a bandit.

That's why people that even agreed with Hunt's points about the UFC still wouldn't support him. He was usually the highest or second highest paid on the roster.

 

[HHJ]

Cormier made 4 mil for the derrick Lewis fight alone. No way any of this shit is accurate.

 

[Tweak896]

Pretty sure those numbers are all pulled out of someone's ass.

GSP said himself he made more than his career earnings listed here for the Bisping fight alone.


St-Pierre wrote. “For the fight with Michael Bisping, with the pay-per-views, the sponsorship and all that, I made about $10 million. Then in 2019, I got out. I’m very lucky and very privileged that I finished on top. The reality is most fighters finish broke and broken. They hang there too long. They get brain damage. They go broke.

Georges St-Pierre reveals details of past UFC negotiations, career earnings: ‘I was making many millions of dollars’

Georges St-Pierre revealed details about some of his behind-the-scenes negotiations with the UFC.

www.mmafighting.com

Funny how the guys who cry about fighter pay here and reddit will read articles like this and still reference show/win money. Even non champs get paid more than their contracts, it's always been a secret that fighters and UFC don't want out. It's such a waste to argue pay online when the references are buried and hidden. People click wikipedia and see guys get paid nothing, then compare to Mayweather.

 

[that Indian]

JDS is doing something right

 

[Clark Rogers]

Pretty sure those numbers are all pulled out of someone's ass.

GSP said himself he made more than his career earnings listed here for the Bisping fight alone.


St-Pierre wrote. “For the fight with Michael Bisping, with the pay-per-views, the sponsorship and all that, I made about $10 million. Then in 2019, I got out. I’m very lucky and very privileged that I finished on top. The reality is most fighters finish broke and broken. They hang there too long. They get brain damage. They go broke.

Georges St-Pierre reveals details of past UFC negotiations, career earnings: ‘I was making many millions of dollars’

Georges St-Pierre revealed details about some of his behind-the-scenes negotiations with the UFC.

www.mmafighting.com

This is Sherdog though, many would rather believe some internet troll looking at wikis and speaking like they're an insider over a first hand account from the person that actually got paid.

 

[cmw43]

Lesnar really got underpaid considering that he was argubaly the 2nd biggest needle mover in UFC history after Conor.

He got paid, numbers in the OP aren't real.

 

[treelo]

Just for comparison here are the top 16 highest boxing payouts for 1 fight:

16. Anthony Joshua $25M vs Andy Ruiz
15. Jake Paul $30M vs Tommy Fury
14. Mike Tyson $30M vs Holyfield 2
13. Canello $35M vs Kovalev
12. Evander Holyfield $35M vs Tyson 2
11. Jake Paul $40M vs Tyson
10. Canello $45M vs GGG 3
9. Joshua $50M vs Ngannou
8. De la Hoya $52M vs Mayweather
7. Fury $60M vs Wilder 3
6. Mayweather $80M vs Canello
5. Fury $100M vs Usyk
4. McGregor $130M vs Mayweather
3. Pacman $150M vs Mayweather
2. Mayweather $250M vs Pacman
1. Mayweather $280M vs McGregor

So Mayweather in one fight on two occasions earned more than the entire top 20 UFC fighters ever.

kind of underpins where people can make the most money, and this is just fighters pay, and not what promoters are earnings

@TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle thoughts on the pay disparity and how you, and i, dont know what promoters are earning, there is no doubt UFC is earning more than "Boxing", because boxing isnt a monopoly

 

[xMTDx]

No Mighty Mouse or Nunes

 

[Brandino]

A reminder that announced salaries are only a small portion of what they fully pay the fighters to avoid taxes. Someone like GSP would have 50% of his purse taxed, so they only officially pay him a certain amount and then under the table him a much larger portion. He was making 10 million+ plus for his final fights.

Pride and K-1 were much more egregious where guys like Sapp would officially make $500 in certain events.

 

[jko1355]

as of right now:
20. Dan Henderson – £6,630,000
19. Islam Makhachev – £6,899,760
18. Vitor Belfort – £7,020,000
17. Dustin Poirier – £7,098,000
16. Mark Hunt – £7,644,000
15. Daniel Cormier – £7,956,000
14. Donald Cerrone – £8,268,000
13. Georges St-Pierre – £8,541,000
12. Junior Dos Santos – £8,580,00011
11. Michael Bisping – £8,658,00
10. Andrei Arlovski – £8,736,00
9. Israel Adesanya – £8,970,000
8. Alex Pereira – £9,750,000
7. Brock Lesnar – £10,369,100
6. Anderson Silva – £10,530,000
5. Stipe Miocic – £10,608,000
4. Alistair Overeem – £11,232,390
3. Jon Jones – £13,416,000
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov – £17,862,000
1. Conor McGregor – £30,654,000

MSN

Dana White: "This isn't a career, this is an opportunity."

Fighters have literally laughed at the disclosed pay for years but sure Connor and Khabib only made 50 mil combined

 

[Buff]

Surprised to see Overeem so high on the list and GSP so low. Even Michael Bisping is higher than him.

Overeem was on an half million dollar per fight contract - people were always asking why he kept fighting for so long despite the hash KOs... Now we know.

 

[TR1]

A reminder that announced salaries are only a small portion of what they fully pay the fighters to avoid taxes. Someone like GSP would have 50% of his purse taxed, so they only officially pay him a certain amount and then under the table him a much larger portion. He was making 10 million+ plus for his final fights.

Pride and K-1 were much more egregious where guys like Sapp would officially make $500 in certain events.

There is no way the UFC was paying its top stars "under the table" in the millions.

The IRS exists.