Another year is almost in the books which means it’s time to recap a wild and wacky year in the mixed martial arts world. All week The MMA Manifesto will bring you the best that 2010 offered to fight fans. Next up: UFC Fighter Salaries.
Was 2010 a good year financially to be a fighter? Well, that depends on what your name is. If it is Georges St-Pierre, then yes, it was a very good year. On the other hand, if you happen to be Tyler Toner, you might want to consider keeping your day job. While the average UFC fighter made $99,630 in 2010, 49 fighters (18%) made $10,000 or less. A few more stats that you might find interesting:
– Michael Bisping is not a typo at #2 – he barely was edged out by GSP for top earning fighter honours. He earned $175,000 for his loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110, $325,000 for beating Dan Miller at UFC 114 and $385,000 (including a $60,000 Fight of the Night bonus) for outpointing Yoshihiro Akiyami at UFC 120. Money, and Michael Bisping, talks.
– The average household income in the U.S. is around $45000 per year, yet almost half of the UFC’s fighters (49%) made less than the average American in 2010. Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get punched in the face.
– If it wasn’t for the UFC end of night bonuses, Carlos Condit’s pockets wouldn’t be so fat. Of Condit’s $249,000 earned in 2010, a whopping $190,000 (76%) of it came from end of night bonuses. He made $85,000 for participating in the Fight of the Night at UFC 115 (versus Rory MacDonald) and another $65,000 for Knockout of the Night for making Dan Hardy go nightie-night at UFC 120.
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 2010. To check out 2011’s fighter salary info, click here.
| 1 | Michael Bisping* | $ 915,000 |
| 2 | Georges St-Pierre * | $ 900,000 |
| 3 | Brock Lesnar | $ 875,000 |
| 4 | Rashad Evans | $ 785,000 |
| 5 | B.J. Penn * | $ 680,000 |
| 6 | Matt Hughes* | $ 560,000 |
| 7 | Anderson Silva * | $ 520,000 |
| 8 | Chuck Liddell | $ 500,000 |
| 9 | James Toney | $ 500,000 |
| 10 | Rampage Jackson* | $ 500,000 |
| 11 | Randy Couture | $ 500,000 |
| 12 | Mirko Cro Cop* | $ 460,000 |
| 13 | Cain Velasquez * | $ 410,000 |
| 14 | Lyoto Machida* | $ 400,000 |
| 15 | Frank Mir * | $ 375,000 |
| 16 | Mauricio Rua* | $ 320,000 |
| 17 | Chris Leben | $ 316,000 |
| 18 | Matt Serra* | $ 300,000 |
| 19 | Josh Koscheck * | $ 287,000 |
| 20 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira* | $ 275,000 |
| 21 | Junior dos Santos | $ 260,000 |
| 22 | Carlos Condit* | $ 257,000 |
| 23 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira * | $ 250,000 |
| 24 | Tito Ortiz | $ 250,000 |
| 25 | Demian Maia * | $ 244,000 |
| 26 | Joe Lauzon* | $ 242,000 |
| 27 | Nate Marquardt* | $ 240,000 |
| 28 | Jon Fitch * | $ 228,000 |
| 29 | Kenny Florian * | $ 225,000 |
| 30 | Rich Franklin | $ 225,000 |
| 31 | Yoshihiro Akiyama* | $ 225,000 |
| 32 | Diego Sanchez | $ 220,000 |
| 33 | Chael Sonnen | $ 219,000 |
| 34 | Jim Miller* | $ 218,000 |
| 35 | Mark Munoz* | $ 213,000 |
| 36 | Mac Danzig* | $ 212,000 |
| 37 | Stephan Bonnar* | $ 212,000 |
| 38 | Chris Lytle * | $ 206,000 |
| 39 | George Sotiropoulos * | $ 202,000 |
| 40 | Wanderlei Silva* | $ 200,000 |
| 41 | Paulo Thiago | $ 196,000 |
| 42 | Nate Diaz* | $ 192,000 |
| 43 | Sam Stout* | $ 187,000 |
| 44 | Shane Carwin* | $ 185,000 |
| 45 | Thiago Alves* | $ 180,000 |
| 46 | Kendall Grove * | $ 178,000 |
| 47 | Dennis Siver * | $ 175,000 |
| 48 | Ricardo Almeida* | $ 175,000 |
| 49 | Gerald Harris * | $ 167,000 |
| 50 | Cheick Kongo* | $ 165,000 |
| 51 | Takanori Gomi* | $ 160,000 |
| 52 | Evan Dunham* | $ 157,000 |
| 53 | Clay Guida | $ 156,000 |
| 54 | Jake Shields | $ 150,000 |
| 55 | Sean Sherk* | $ 150,000 |
| 56 | Vladimir Matyushenko* | $ 149,000 |
| 57 | Frankie Edgar * | $ 148,000 |
| 58 | Marcus Davis | $ 145,000 |
| 59 | Joe Stevenson * | $ 144,000 |
| 60 | Cole Miller* | $ 142,000 |
| 61 | Stefan Struve* | $ 141,000 |
| 62 | Kurt Pellegrino * | $ 140,000 |
| 63 | Jon Jones | $ 136,000 |
| 64 | Phil Davis* | $ 136,000 |
| 65 | Keith Jardine * | $ 135,000 |
| 66 | Matt Hamill | $ 135,000 |
| 67 | Gabriel Gonzaga | $ 134,000 |
| 68 | C.B. Dollaway* | $ 128,000 |
| 69 | Yushin Okami* | $ 128,000 |
| 70 | Krzysztof Soszynski * | $ 125,000 |
| 71 | Jared Hamman* | $ 123,000 |
| 72 | Martin Kampmann | $ 123,000 |
| 73 | Rafael dos Anjos* | $ 123,000 |
| 74 | Charles Oliveira* | $ 118,000 |
| 75 | Jeremy Stephens * | $ 111,000 |
| 76 | John Howard* | $ 106,000 |
| 77 | DaMarques Johnson * | $ 105,000 |
| 78 | Rory MacDonald | $ 105,000 |
| 79 | Daniel Roberts | $ 104,000 |
| 80 | Melvin Guillard* | $ 104,000 |
| 81 | Alan Belcher * | $ 103,000 |
| 82 | Paul Daley* | $ 102,200 |
| 83 | Matt Mitrione* | $ 102,000 |
| 84 | Ben Rothwell | $ 100,000 |
| 85 | Joey Beltran * | $ 100,000 |
| 86 | Dan Miller* | $ 98,000 |
| 87 | Mike Pyle* | $ 97,000 |
| 88 | Ryan Jensen | $ 97,000 |
| 89 | Mark Bocek* | $ 95,000 |
| 90 | Jason Brilz | $ 94,000 |
| 91 | Brian Stann | $ 91,000 |
| 92 | Gilbert Yvel | $ 90,000 |
| 93 | Mike Russow | $ 89,000 |
| 94 | Tyson Griffin* | $ 88,000 |
| 95 | Gray Maynard | $ 86,000 |
| 96 | Amir Sadollah* | $ 85,000 |
| 97 | Karlos Vemola* | $ 84,000 |
| 98 | Johny Hendricks* | $ 82,000 |
| 99 | Aaron Simpson* | $ 78,000 |
| 100 | Spencer Fisher* | $ 78,000 |
| 101 | Rodney Wallace* | $ 77,000 |
| 102 | Pascal Krauss* | $ 76,000 |
| 103 | Ross Pearson* | $ 75,000 |
| 104 | Roy Nelson* | $ 75,000 |
| 105 | Paul Sass* | $ 72,000 |
| 106 | Court McGee | $ 71,000 |
| 107 | Brian Foster * | $ 70,000 |
| 108 | Ryan Bader* | $ 70,000 |
| 109 | Tom Lawlor* | $ 70,000 |
| 110 | Nik Lentz* | $ 69,000 |
| 111 | Mark Scanlon* | $ 68,000 |
| 112 | Rick Story* | $ 68,000 |
| 113 | Efrain Escudero | $ 65,000 |
| 114 | Dong Hyun Kim | $ 64,000 |
| 115 | Leonard Garcia | $ 62,000 |
| 116 | Brandon Vera | $ 60,000 |
| 117 | Brendan Schaub | $ 60,000 |
| 118 | Dennis Hallman* | $ 60,000 |
| 119 | Mark Coleman | $ 60,000 |
| 120 | Gleison Tibau * | $ 57,000 |
| 121 | Kyle Kingsbury* | $ 56,000 |
| 122 | Dustin Hazelett* | $ 55,800 |
| 123 | Thiago Silva | $ 55,000 |
| 124 | Matthew Riddle* | $ 52,000 |
| 125 | Paul Kelly* | $ 51,000 |
| 126 | Dan Hardy* | $ 50,000 |
| 127 | Tim Boetsch* | $ 50,000 |
| 128 | Duane Ludwig* | $ 48,000 |
| 129 | Jon Madsen * | $ 48,000 |
| 130 | Paul Taylor* | $ 48,000 |
| 131 | Cody McKenzie | $ 46,000 |
| 132 | Nam Phan | $ 46,000 |
| 133 | James Wilks* | $ 45,000 |
| 134 | Mike Massenzio | $ 45,000 |
| 135 | Thiago Tavares* | $ 45,000 |
| 136 | Jake Ellenberger | $ 44,000 |
| 137 | Mike Swick | $ 43,000 |
| 138 | Alessio Sakara | $ 42,000 |
| 139 | Patrick Cote* | $ 42,000 |
| 140 | Andre Winner * | $ 40,000 |
| 141 | Caol Uno * | $ 40,000 |
| 142 | James Irvin | $ 40,000 |
| 143 | Karo Parisyan* | $ 40,000 |
| 144 | Mike Pierce | $ 40,000 |
| 145 | Paul Buentello | $ 40,000 |
| 146 | Rich Antonito | $ 40,000 |
| 147 | Jacob Volkmann * | $ 38,000 |
| 148 | Pablo Garza | $ 38,000 |
| 149 | Jorge Rivera * | $ 36,000 |
| 150 | Rob Emerson* | $ 36,000 |
| 151 | Dave Branch* | $ 34,000 |
| 152 | John Hathaway* | $ 33,000 |
| 153 | Chris Camozzi | $ 32,000 |
| 154 | Chris Tuchscherer | $ 32,000 |
| 155 | Kyle Noke* | $ 32,000 |
| 156 | Dan Lauzon | $ 30,000 |
| 157 | Frank Trigg | $ 30,000 |
| 158 | John Salter * | $ 30,000 |
| 159 | Matt Brown* | $ 30,000 |
| 160 | Nate Quarry* | $ 30,000 |
| 161 | Nick Osipczak* | $ 30,000 |
| 162 | Rafaello Oliveira* | $ 30,000 |
| 163 | John Gunderson* | $ 29,000 |
| 164 | Igor Pokrajac* | $ 28,000 |
| 165 | Matt Wiman | $ 28,000 |
| 166 | Rob Kimmons* | $ 27,000 |
| 167 | Brad Blackburn * | $ 26,000 |
| 168 | Jason MacDonald * | $ 26,000 |
| 169 | Mario Miranda | $ 26,000 |
| 170 | Mike Guymon | $ 26,000 |
| 171 | Kimbo Slice * | $ 25,000 |
| 172 | Ben Saunders * | $ 24,000 |
| 173 | Charlie Brenneman* | $ 24,000 |
| 174 | Claude Patrick* | $ 24,000 |
| 175 | Rousimar Palhares* | $ 21,000 |
| 176 | Aaron Riley | $ 20,000 |
| 177 | Darren Elkins | $ 20,000 |
| 178 | Seth Petruzelli* | $ 20,000 |
| 179 | TJ Grant* | $ 20,000 |
| 180 | Travis Browne* | $ 20,000 |
| 181 | Luiz Cane | $ 19,000 |
| 182 | Alesander Gustafsson* | $ 18,000 |
| 183 | Cyrille Diabate* | $ 18,000 |
| 184 | Greg Soto* | $ 18,000 |
| 185 | Sean McCorkle* | $ 18,000 |
| 186 | Waylon Lowe* | $ 18,000 |
| 187 | Brad Tavares | $ 16,000 |
| 188 | James McSweeney* | $ 16,000 |
| 189 | Jonathan Brookins | $ 16,000 |
| 190 | Kris McCray* | $ 16,000 |
| 191 | Kyle Watson | $ 16,000 |
| 192 | Ricardo Romero | $ 16,000 |
| 193 | Yves Edwards* | $ 16,000 |
| 194 | Goran Reljic * | $ 15,000 |
| 195 | Rolles Gracie | $ 15,000 |
| 196 | Jesse Lennox | $ 14,000 |
| 197 | Nick Catone | $ 14,000 |
| 198 | Tim Hague* | $ 14,000 |
| 199 | Tomasz Drwal* | $ 14,000 |
| 200 | Eric Shaefer | $ 13,000 |
| 201 | David Loiseau | $ 12,000 |
| 202 | Edson Barboza* | $ 12,000 |
| 203 | Fabio Maldonado* | $ 12,000 |
| 204 | Forrest Petz* | $ 12,000 |
| 205 | James Te-Huna* | $ 12,000 |
| 206 | Jesse Forbes | $ 12,000 |
| 207 | Joe Doerksen* | $ 12,000 |
| 208 | John Makdessi* | $ 12,000 |
| 209 | Julio Paulino* | $ 12,000 |
| 210 | Maiquel Falcao* | $ 12,000 |
| 211 | Mark Holst* | $ 12,000 |
| 212 | Pat Audinwood* | $ 12,000 |
| 213 | Rafael Natal* | $ 12,000 |
| 214 | Rob Broughton* | $ 12,000 |
| 215 | Sean Pierson* | $ 12,000 |
| 216 | TJ Waldburger* | $ 12,000 |
| 217 | Pat Barry | $ 11,000 |
| 218 | Chase Gormley | $ 10,000 |
| 219 | Elliot Marshall | $ 10,000 |
| 220 | Fabricio Camoes * | $ 10,000 |
| 221 | Ian Loveland | $ 10,000 |
| 222 | Phillipe Nover | $ 10,000 |
| 223 | Terry Etim* | $ 10,000 |
| 224 | Shannon Gugerty | $ 9,000 |
| 225 | Aaron Wilkinson | $ 8,000 |
| 226 | Alexandre Ferreira* | $ 8,000 |
| 227 | Carlos Eduardo Rocha* | $ 8,000 |
| 228 | Dong Yi Yang | $ 8,000 |
| 229 | Gabe Ruediger | $ 8,000 |
| 230 | James Hammortree | $ 8,000 |
| 231 | Jamie Yager | $ 8,000 |
| 232 | Josh Bryant | $ 8,000 |
| 233 | Justin Bucholz | $ 8,000 |
| 234 | Kyle Bradley | $ 8,000 |
| 235 | Michael Johnson | $ 8,000 |
| 236 | Peter Sobotta* | $ 8,000 |
| 237 | Ronys Torres* | $ 8,000 |
| 238 | Savo Chivitchian | $ 8,000 |
| 239 | Seth Baczynski | $ 8,000 |
| 240 | Todd Duffee | $ 8,000 |
| 241 | Yoshiyuki Yoshida* | $ 8,000 |
| 242 | Jonathan Goulet* | $ 7,000 |
| 243 | Mustafa Al Turk* | $ 7,000 |
| 244 | Amilcar Alves | $ 6,000 |
| 245 | Anthony Perosh* | $ 6,000 |
| 246 | Christian Morecraft | $ 6,000 |
| 247 | Curt Warburton* | $ 6,000 |
| 248 | David Mitchell* | $ 6,000 |
| 249 | Jason High* | $ 6,000 |
| 250 | Jay Silva | $ 6,000 |
| 251 | Jesse Bongfelt* | $ 6,000 |
| 252 | Lucio Linhares* | $ 6,000 |
| 253 | Mark Hunt* | $ 6,000 |
| 254 | Mike Lullo* | $ 6,000 |
| 255 | Rory Markham* | $ 6,000 |
| 256 | Steve Lopez* | $ 6,000 |
| 257 | Steve Steinbeiss | $ 6,000 |
| 258 | Todd Brown | $ 6,000 |
| 259 | Vinicius Queiroz* | $ 6,000 |
| 260 | Nicholas Pace | $ 5,400 |
| 261 | Joe Brammer | $ 5,000 |
| 262 | Matt Veach* | $ 5,000 |
| 263 | Ricardo Funch | $ 5,000 |
| 264 | Fredson Paixao | $ 4,000 |
| 265 | Will Campuzano | $ 3,300 |
| 266 | T.J. O’Brien* | $ 3,000 |
| 267 | Tyler Toner | $ 3,000 |
Insufficient Data Available to Predict Salaries:
Dan Hardy
Renzo Gracie
Mark Hunt
Year in Review: UFC PPV Buyrates.
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