2011 Year in Review: UFC Fighter Salaries

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tito ortiz

Another memorable year in mixed martial arts is in the books, so it’s time for The MMA Manifesto to look back and reflect.  Next up: UFC Fighter Salaries.

Was 2011 a good year financially to be a fighter?  Well, that depends on what your name is.  If it is Tito Ortiz, then yes, it was a very good year.  On the other hand, if you happen to be Byron Bloodworth, you might want to consider keeping your day job.  While the average UFC fighter made $92,136 in 2011, 71 fighters (21%) made $10,000 or less.  A few more stats that you might find interesting:

– While Tito Ortiz tops the list for 2011, he probably ended up making less in 2011 than in 2010.  His new UFC contract doesn’t give him a cut of the pay-per-view revenue like his previous contracts did.

– The average household income in the U.S. is around $45,000 per year, yet over half of the UFC’s fighters (56%) made less than the average American in 2011.  Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get punched in the face.

Now, for the salary results.  It is worth noting that these are only the reported salaries plus Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses that have been made public.  Many top performing fighters get additional bonuses paid out to them that aren’t reported, plus the top guys get a cut of the pay-per-view buys for events that they headline (not to mention every fighter makes sponsorship money).  Also, many athletic commissions don’t report fighter’s salary info, so for those we’ve estimated a fighter’s purse based on what they have earned in their other recent fights.  Fighters with some estimated purses are marked with a * in the database.  This data should still be considered very close to accurate, as most fighters’ purses remain rather steady from fight to fight (unless they ink a new contract in the meantime).

So, without further ado, here’s the salary of each UFC fighter for 2011.  To check out 2010’s fighter salary info, click here.

1 Tito Ortiz*  $1,495,000
2 Michael Bisping*  $   810,000
3 Jon Jones*  $   785,000
4 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira*  $   750,000
5 Frank Mir*  $   645,000
6 Mauricio Rua*  $   625,000
7 Vitor Belfort*  $   620,000
8 Lyoto Machida*  $   604,000
9 Rampage Jackson*  $   575,000
10 Rashad Evans*  $   515,000
11 Donald Cerrone  $   494,000
12 Junior dos Santos  $   485,000
13 Anderson Silva*  $   475,000
14 Wanderlei Silva  $   470,000
15 Cung Le  $   420,000
16 Brock Lesnar  $   400,000
17 Forrest Griffin*  $   400,000
18 Georges St-Pierre*  $   400,000
19 Alistair Overeem  $   385,714
20 B.J. Penn*  $   375,000
21 Nate Diaz*  $   356,000
22 Frankie Edgar*  $   345,000
23 Cheick Kongo*  $   330,000
24 Dan Henderson  $   320,000
25 Chris Lytle*  $   310,000
26 Clay Guida  $   301,000
27 Urijah Faber*  $   301,000
28 Nick Diaz  $   275,000
29 Diego Sanchez*  $   270,000
30 Johny Hendricks*  $   270,000
31 Randy Couture*  $   250,000
32 Martin Kampmann*  $   247,000
33 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira*  $   230,000
34 Jose Aldo*  $   229,000
35 Gleison Tibau*  $   224,000
36 Josh Koscheck*  $   209,000
37 Edson Barboza*  $   206,000
38 Ross Pearson*  $   200,000
39 Joe Lauzon*  $   197,000
40 Kenny Florian*  $   195,000
41 Ben Henderson*  $   193,000
42 Dong Hyun Kim  $   193,000
43 Melvin Guillard*  $   190,000
44 Chris Leben*  $   184,000
45 Mark Munoz*  $   184,000
46 Brian Ebersole*  $   181,000
47 Brian Stann*  $   181,000
48 Brandon Vera  $   180,000
49 Jake Ellenberger*  $   175,000
50 Michael McDonald  $   161,000
51 Jeremy Stephens*  $   160,000
52 Dominick Cruz*  $   155,000
53 Matt Wiman*  $   155,000
54 Mark Hominick*  $   151,000
55 Chan Sung Jung*  $   150,000
56 Jake Shields*  $   150,000
57 Mirko Cro Cop*  $   150,000
58 Miguel Torres  $   146,800
59 Anthony Johnson*  $   145,000
60 Pablo Garza*  $   145,000
61 Carlos Condit  $   143,000
62 Gray Maynard*  $   138,000
63 Chris Weidman*  $   130,000
64 Demian Maia*  $   129,000
65 Stefan Struve*  $   128,000
66 Brian Bowles*  $   127,000
67 Danny Castillo*  $   124,600
68 Shane Roller*  $   124,000
69 Jon Fitch*  $   120,000
70 Tony Ferguson*  $   116,000
71 Dan Hardy*  $   115,000
72 Nam Phan*  $   115,000
73 Nik Lentz*  $   114,000
74 Yves Edwards*  $   112,000
75 Leonard Garcia*  $   111,000
76 Thiago Silva  $   110,000
77 Sam Stout  $   108,000
78 Anthony Njokuani*  $   106,000
79 Dave Herman  $   106,000
80 Travis Browne*  $   106,000
81 Bart Palaszewski  $   103,500
82 Mark Hunt*  $   103,000
83 Vladimir Matyushenko  $   102,000
84 Ricardo Lamas*  $   101,000
85 Brendan Schaub*  $   100,000
86 Cain Velasquez  $   100,000
87 Ed Herman  $   100,000
88 Matt Hughes*  $   100,000
89 Takanori Gomi*  $   100,000
90 Dennis Siver*  $     99,000
91 Kyle Noke*  $     99,000
92 Thiago Alves*  $     99,000
93 Aaron Simpson*  $     98,000
94 Jim Miller*  $     97,000
95 Diego Brandao  $     96,000
96 Renan Barao*  $     96,000
97 Erik Koch*  $     94,000
98 Joe Stevenson*  $     94,000
99 Paul Kelly  $     94,000
100 Tyson Griffin*  $     93,500
101 Mike Brown*  $     92,000
102 Kyle Kingsbury  $     90,000
103 Nate Marquardt*  $     90,000
104 Terry Etim*  $     90,000
105 Ryan Bader  $     88,000
106 Jon Olav Einemo  $     85,000
107 Jacob Volkmann*  $     84,000
108 Charles Oliveira*  $     82,000
109 Joseph Benavidez*  $     82,000
110 Mike Pierce*  $     82,000
111 Tim Boetsch*  $     82,000
112 TJ Waldburger*  $     79,000
113 Che Mills*  $     78,000
114 Jason MacDonald*  $     78,000
115 Alexander Gustafsson*  $     76,000
116 Brad Pickett*  $     76,000
117 Rich Franklin  $     75,000
118 Mike Pyle*  $     74,000
119 Edwin Figueroa*  $     73,000
120 Jorge Santiago*  $     72,000
121 Rick Story*  $     72,000
122 Chael Sonnen*  $     70,000
123 DaMarques Johnson*  $     70,000
124 Stephan Bonnar  $     68,000
125 Matt Riddle*  $     67,000
126 Matt Hamill*  $     64,000
127 Lance Benoist*  $     63,000
128 Scott Jorgensen  $     62,000
129 Amir Sadollah  $     60,000
130 Reuben Duran*  $     58,000
131 Luiz Cane*  $     57,000
132 Diego Nunes  $     56,000
133 John Dodson  $     56,000
134 Takeya Mizugaki*  $     56,000
135 Roy Nelson  $     55,000
136 Raphael Assuncao*  $     54,000
137 Ben Rothwell*  $     52,000
138 Spencer Fisher*  $     52,000
139 Cole Miller*  $     51,000
140 Thiago Tavares*  $     51,000
141 Fabio Maldonado  $     50,000
142 Matt Mitrione*  $     50,000
143 Daniel Roberts*  $     48,000
144 Dennis Bermudez  $     48,000
145 Joey Beltran*  $     48,000
146 Cody McKenzie*  $     46,000
147 Dan Miller*  $     46,000
148 Chad Mendes*  $     45,000
149 Dennis Hallman*  $     45,000
150 Jason Miller  $     45,000
151 Mark Bocek*  $     45,000
152 Yoshihiro Akiyama*  $     45,000
153 Pat Barry*  $     44,000
154 Rafael dos Anjos  $     44,000
155 Demetrious Johnson*  $     42,000
156 Rory MacDonald*  $     42,000
157 C.B. Dolloway*  $     40,000
158 Charlie Brenneman*  $     40,000
159 Igor Pokrajac*  $     40,000
160 Michihiro Omigawa*  $     40,000
161 Nick Ring*  $     40,000
162 Shane Carwin*  $     40,000
163 Evan Dunham*  $     39,000
164 Allen Belcher*  $     38,000
165 Darren Elkins*  $     38,000
166 Dustin Poirier  $     38,000
167 Jared Hamman*  $     36,000
168 Jorge Rivera*  $     36,000
169 Krzysztof Soszynski*  $     36,000
170 Manny Gamburyan*  $     36,000
171 Paul Taylor  $     36,000
172 Paulo Thiago*  $     36,000
173 Waylon Lowe*  $     36,000
174 Ricardo Almeida*  $     35,000
175 Phil Davis  $     34,000
176 Costas Philippou*  $     33,000
177 Alex Caceres*  $     32,000
178 Clay Harvison*  $     32,000
179 Duane Ludwig  $     32,000
180 John Makdessi*  $     32,000
181 Justin Edwards*  $     32,000
182 Matt Brown*  $     32,000
183 Seth Baczynski*  $     32,000
184 Yves Jabouin*  $     32,000
185 Marcus Davis  $     31,000
186 Shamar Bailey*  $     30,400
187 Anthony Pettis*  $     30,000
188 Court McGee*  $     30,000
189 George Sotiropoulos*  $     30,000
190 Hatsu Hioki  $     30,000
191 Josh Grispi  $     30,000
192 Norifumi Yamamoto  $     30,000
193 Rani Yahya*  $     30,000
194 Anthony Perosh*  $     28,000
195 Jimy Hettes  $     28,000
196 Josh Neer*  $     28,000
197 Mike Russow  $     28,000
198 Ramsey Nijem  $     28,000
199 Rousimar Palhares*  $     28,000
200 Brad Tavares  $     26,000
201 George Roop*  $     26,000
202 Jason Brilz*  $     26,000
203 Javier Vazquez*  $     26,000
204 John Hathaway  $     26,000
205 Kendall Grove  $     26,000
206 Michael Johnson*  $     26,000
207 Eliot Marshall*  $     25,000
208 Kurt Pellegrino*  $     25,000
209 Phil Baroni  $     25,000
210 Dongyi Yang*  $     24,000
211 Junior Assuncao*  $     24,000
212 Mike Massenzio*  $     24,000
213 Rich Attonito*  $     24,000
214 Robert Peralta*  $     24,000
215 Yusin Okami*  $     23,000
216 Alessio Sakara*  $     21,000
217 Chris Cariaso*  $     20,000
218 Eddie Wineland*  $     20,000
219 Ivan Menjivar*  $     20,000
220 Mackens Semerzier  $     20,000
221 Ricardo Romero*  $     20,000
222 Steve Cantwell*  $     20,000
223 Aaron Rosa  $     18,000
224 Christian Morecraft*  $     18,000
225 Claude Patrick*  $     18,000
226 Cole Escovedo*  $     18,000
227 Curt Warburton*  $     18,000
228 Cyrille Diabate*  $     18,000
229 James Te-Huna*  $     18,000
230 Vagner Rocha*  $     18,000
231 Bryan Caraway  $     16,000
232 Chris Camozzi*  $     16,000
233 Chris Cope  $     16,000
234 John Albert  $     16,000
235 Johnny Bedford  $     16,000
236 Marcus Brimage  $     16,000
237 Paul Bradley*  $     16,000
238 Roland Delorme  $     16,000
239 Ronny Markes  $     16,000
240 Sean Pierson*  $     16,000
241 Steven Silver  $     16,000
242 Antonio McKee  $     15,000
243 Cub Swanson  $     15,000
244 John Howard*  $     15,000
245 Jonathan Brookins*  $     15,000
246 Ken Stone*  $     15,000
247 Andre Winner  $     14,000
248 Nick Catone*  $     14,000
249 Eric Schafer*  $     13,000
250 Chris Tuchsherer*  $     12,000
251 Clifford Starks  $     12,000
252 Damacio Page*  $     12,000
253 Darren Uyenoyama  $     12,000
254 Donny Walker*  $     12,000
255 Erick Silva*  $     12,000
256 Francis Carmont  $     12,000
257 Iuri Alcanatra*  $     12,000
258 Jason Young*  $     12,000
259 Jeff Hougland  $     12,000
260 Paul Sass*  $     12,000
261 Rafael Natal*  $     12,000
262 Rob Broughton*  $     12,000
263 Stanislov Nedkov*  $     12,000
264 Tom Lawlor  $     12,000
265 Walel Watson*  $     12,000
266 Zhang Tie Quan*  $     12,000
267 Ian Loveland*  $     11,000
268 Aaron Riley*  $     10,000
269 Charlie Valencia*  $     10,000
270 Efrain Escudero  $     10,000
271 Jason Reinhart*  $     10,000
272 Jon Madsen  $     10,000
273 Karlos Vemola*  $     10,000
274 Kris McCray  $     10,000
275 Mario Miranda  $     10,000
276 Rafaello Oliveira  $     10,000
277 Ryan Jensen*  $     10,000
278 Sean McCorkle  $     10,000
279 Tim Credeur  $     10,000
280 TJ Grant*  $     10,000
281 Antonio Banuelos  $      9,000
282 Rob Kimmons*  $      9,000
283 Mike Easton*  $      8,800
284 Carlos Eduardo Rocha  $      8,000
285 Chuck O’Neil  $      8,000
286 Danny Downes  $      8,000
287 Dustin Neace  $      8,000
288 Dustin Pague  $      8,000
289 Edward Faaloloto*  $      8,000
290 Greg Soto  $      8,000
291 Jake Hecht*  $      8,000
292 Jeff Curran  $      8,000
293 John Cholish*  $      8,000
294 John Maguire*  $      8,000
295 Josh Ferguson  $      8,000
296 Kyle Watson*  $      8,000
297 Louis Gaudinot  $      8,000
298 Mike Guymon*  $      8,000
299 Philip De Fries*  $      8,000
300 Ryan McGillivray  $      8,000
301 Stephen Bass  $      8,000
302 Stipe Miocic*  $      8,000
303 T.J. Dillashaw  $      8,000
304 Nick Pace*  $      7,200
305 Kamal Shalorus*  $      7,000
306 Matt Grice*  $      7,000
307 Tim Hague*  $      7,000
308 Alex Soto  $      6,000
309 Amilcar Alves*  $      6,000
310 Dave Branch*  $      6,000
311 David Mitchell*  $      6,000
312 Dustin Jacoby  $      6,000
313 Felipe Arantes*  $      6,000
314 James Head  $      6,000
315 Jesse Bongfelt  $      6,000
316 Johny Eduardo*  $      6,000
317 Josh Clopton  $      6,000
318 Kenny Robertson  $      6,000
319 Luis Ramos*  $      6,000
320 Matt Lucas  $      6,000
321 T.J. O’Brien*  $      6,000
322 Todd Brown*  $      6,000
323 Willamy Freire*  $      6,000
324 Eddie Yagin*  $      4,000
325 Francisco Rivera  $      4,000
326 Jorge Lopez*  $      4,000
327 Joseph Sandoval*  $      4,000
328 Keith Wisniewski*  $      4,000
329 Maciej Jewtuszko*  $      4,000
330 Mike Lullo*  $      4,000
331 Mike Stumpf*  $      4,000
332 Mitch Clarke*  $      4,000
333 Papy Abedi*  $      4,000
334 Riki Fukuda*  $      4,000
335 Tom Blackledge*  $      4,000
336 Vaughan Lee*  $      4,000
337 Will Campuzano*  $      4,000
338 Byron Bloodworth*  $      3,200


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