I would have fought Matt Hughes for 400,000 at that time. Look at that pay difference.
It really was his best option for any chance of a good payday and win. Atleast Hughes would take him down and open up the chance for a hail mary triangle or similar.
Rich franklin was out with a broken hand from a title defence and would have arguably been a worse match up if Royce couldn't take it to the ground.
Wiki below. It's worth a read just to see how much pay has changed and how big a fight this was at the time.
Headlining the card was a non-title
catchweight (175 lb) match between then-current
UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, and
UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, the winner of
UFC 1,
UFC 2 and
UFC 4. This was Gracie's first match in the
UFC and in the
United States since
UFC 5.
The event drew 620,000 buys, becoming the best-selling
pay-per-view in
UFC history up to that point, and the first to break the $20 million mark in gross PPV sales.
[3]
Results[edit]
Main Card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Catchweight (175 lb)
Matt Hughes def.
Royce Gracie TKO (punches) 1 4:39
Light Heavyweight
Dean Lister def.
Alessio Sakara Submission (triangle choke) 1 2:20
Welterweight
Diego Sanchez def.
John Alessio Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Heavyweight
Brandon Vera def.
Assuerio Silva Submission (guillotine choke) 1 2:39
Middleweight
Mike Swick def.
Joe Riggs Submission (guillotine choke) 1 2:19
Preliminary Card
Middleweight
Jeremy Horn def.
Chael Sonnen Submission (armbar) 2 1:17
[a]
Lightweight
Spencer Fisher def.
Matt Wiman KO (flying knee) 2 1:43
Heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga def. Fabiano Scherner TKO (punches) 2 0:24
Lightweight Melvin Guillard def. Rick Davis KO (punch) 1 1:37
- ^ Sonnen was a late replacement for Evan Tanner, who reportedly withdrew due to personal issues.
Reported Payout[edit]
Royce Gracie: $400,000
Matt Hughes: $110,000
Jeremy Horn: $70,000
Brandon Vera: $32,000
Diego Sanchez: $24,000
Mike Swick: $14,000
Spencer Fisher: $14,000
Joe Riggs: $12,000
Gabriel Gonzaga: $10,000
Melvin Guillard: $10,000
Alessio Sakara: $10,000
Dean Lister: $10,000
Assuerio Silva: $8,000
Chael Sonnen: $5,000
Fabiano Scherner: $3,000
Matt Wiman: $3,000
John Alessio: $3,000
Rick Davis: $2,000
Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $740,000