2013 Year In Review: UFC Fighter Salaries

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Anderson Silva Post UFC 162 Press Conference - Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

 

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 2013 a good year financially to be a fighter?  Well, that depends on what your name is.  If it is Anderson Silva, then yes, it was a very good year.  On the other hand, if you happen to be C.J. Keith, you might want to consider keeping your day job. The average UFC fighter made $90,967 in 2013, down from averages of $99,630 and $92,136 in 2010 and 2011 respectively, but up from $81,068 in 2012.

A few more stats that you might find interesting:

– 77 fighters (17%) made $10,000 or less, compared to 21% in 2011 and 15% in 2012.

The average household income in the U.S. is around $45,000 per year, yet over half of the UFC’s fighters (57%) made less than the average American household in 2013 (56% in 2011, 53% in 2012). Sometimes it doesn’t pay to get punched in the face.

– 105 fighters (23%) earned six-figures in 2013 (24% in 2012).

10 men and one woman wore UFC championship belts in 2013, and they earned an average of $552,363 (up from $342,273 in 2012) over the course of the year (highest – Anderson Silva: $1,200,000; lowest – Renan Barao: $144,000).  Most of these fighters also made much more money in undisclosed pay-per-view bonuses.

The highest earning non-UFC champion in 2013 was the same man as in 2012 – Rashad Evans, who pulled in a cool $1,035,000.  The highest earning fighter to have never worn UFC gold was Dan Henderson, who was paid $750,000.

The top paid UFC newcomer was Gilbert Melendez, who got $410,000 for his two Octagon appearances.

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 2012.  To check out 2010’s fighter salary info, click here, for 2011 click here, for 2012 click here, for career fighter earnings click here.

CLICK ON A FIGHTER’S NAME FOR A FIGHT-BY-FIGHT PURSE BREAKDOWN

1 Anderson Silva  $              1,200,000
2 Rashad Evans*  $              1,060,000
3 Vitor Belfort*  $                 975,000
4 Georges St-Pierre*  $                 850,000
5 Jon Jones*  $                 850,000
6 Cain Velasquez *  $                 800,000
7 Dan Henderson*  $                 750,000
8 Michael Bisping*  $                 700,000
9 Mark Hunt*  $                 680,000
10 Lyoto Machida*  $                 650,000
11 Hector Lombard*  $                 600,000
12 Urijah Faber  $                 580,000
13 Alistair Overeem  $                 571,428
14 Jose Aldo*  $                 550,000
15 Chris Weidman*  $                 498,000
16 Robbie Lawler  $                 477,000
17 Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua*  $                 470,000
18 Frankie Edgar  $                 460,000
19 Demetrious Johnson*  $                 435,000
20 Junior dos Santos*  $                 420,000
21 Gilbert Melendez*  $                 410,000
22 Frank Mir*  $                 400,000
23 Renan Barao*  $                 376,000
24 Chael Sonnen*  $                 350,000
25 Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva*  $                 345,000
26 Ronda Rousey  $                 340,000
27 Josh Barnett  $                 330,000
28 Travis Browne  $                 319,000
29 Donald Cerrone*  $                 317,000
30 Benson Henderson  $                 310,000
31 Thiago Silva*  $                 306,259
32 Jake Shields*  $                 300,000
33 Wanderlei Silva*  $                 300,000
34 Tyron Woodley*  $                 293,000
35 Ryan Bader*  $                 291,000
36 Carlos Condit*  $                 271,000
37 Daniel Cormier*  $                 266,000
38 Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza*  $                 260,000
39 Chad Mendes  $                 258,000
40 Joseph Benavidez*  $                 252,000
41 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira*  $                 250,000
42 Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson*  $                 250,000
43 Dong Hyun Kim*  $                 244,000
44 Glover Teixeira*  $                 244,000
45 Diego Sanchez*  $                 238,000
46 Tim Kennedy*  $                 230,000
47 Matt Brown  $                 226,000
48 Jorge Masvidal*  $                 215,000
49 Gleison Tibau*  $                 212,000
50 Johny Hendricks*  $                 210,000
51 Anthony Pettis*  $                 208,000
52 Jim Miller*  $                 203,000
53 Nick Diaz*  $                 200,000
54 Danny Castillo*  $                 199,400
55 Jake Ellenberger*  $                 196,000
56 Sam Stout*  $                 192,000
57 Gabriel Gonzaga*  $                 188,000
58 Demian Maia*  $                 184,000
59 Edson Barboza*  $                 184,000
60 Miesha Tate  $                 181,000
61 Rafael Natal*  $                 178,000
62 Melvin Guillard*  $                 176,000
63 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira  $                 174,000
64 Brad Pickett*  $                 167,000
65 John Dodson*  $                 165,000
66 Ed Herman  $                 164,000
67 Ben Rothwell*  $                 162,000
68 Michael McDonald*  $                 162,000
69 Roy Nelson*  $                 161,000
70 Cub Swanson*  $                 158,000
71 Josh Koscheck  $                 156,000
72 Gegard Mousasi*  $                 150,000
73 TJ Grant*  $                 150,000
74 Rafael Cavalcante*  $                 149,000
75 Josh Thomson  $                 145,000
76 Raphael Assuncao*  $                 144,000
77 Takeya Mizugaki*  $                 138,000
78 Tom Watson*  $                 138,000
79 Bobby Green*  $                 134,000
80 Dennis Bermudez*  $                 134,000
81 Mark Munoz*  $                 131,000
82 Dennis Siver  $                 129,200
83 Mike Pyle  $                 129,000
84 Rick Story*  $                 127,000
85 Yushin Okami*  $                 126,000
86 Caros Fodor  $                 125,000
87 Michael Chiesa*  $                 125,000
88 Clay Guida*  $                 124,000
89 K.J. Noons*  $                 123,000
90 James Krause*  $                 122,000
91 Cole Miller*  $                 120,000
92 James Te Huna*  $                 120,000
93 Phil Davis*  $                 120,000
94 C.B. Dolloway*  $                 118,000
95 T.J. Dillashaw*  $                 116,000
96 Darren Elkins*  $                 114,000
97 Tim Boetsch*  $                 111,000
98 Nik Lentz*  $                 109,000
99 Ryan Benoit  $                 108,800
100 Dustin Poirier*  $                 108,500
101 Jeremy Stephens*  $                 106,000
102 Andrew Craig*  $                 103,000
103 Chris Leben  $                 102,000
104 Conor McGregor*  $                 100,000
105 Court McGee*  $                 100,000
106 Fabricio Werdum*  $                 100,000
107 Tony Ferguson*  $                 100,000
108 Rory MacDonald  $                   98,000
109 Bryan Caraway*  $                   95,000
110 Nate Diaz  $                   95,000
111 Pascal Krauss*  $                   95,000
112 Evan Dunham*  $                   94,000
113 Ildemar Alcantara*  $                   94,000
114 Jordan Mein*  $                   94,000
115 Rustam Khabilov*  $                   94,000
116 Yoel Romero*  $                   94,000
117 Martin Kampmann*  $                   92,000
118 Daniel Pineda  $                   91,000
119 Gray Maynard  $                   90,000
120 Joe Lauzon  $                   90,000
121 Mike Pierce*  $                   90,000
122 Anthony Perosh*  $                   88,000
123 John Makdessi*  $                   88,000
124 Alexander Gustafsson*  $                   87,000
125 Brendan Schaub*  $                   86,000
126 Hyun Gyu Lim*  $                   86,000
127 Luke Barnatt*  $                   86,000
128 Michael Johnson*  $                   86,000
129 Ovince St. Preux*  $                   86,000
130 Diego Brandao*  $                   85,000
131 Mike Easton*  $                   85,000
132 Daniel Sarafian*  $                   84,000
133 Lucas Martins*  $                   84,000
134 Ross Pearson*  $                   84,000
135 Erick Silva*  $                   82,000
136 Takanori Gomi*  $                   82,000
137 Khabib Nurmagomedov*  $                   81,200
138 Nate Marquardt*  $                   80,000
139 Rafael dos Anjos*  $                   80,000
140 Rani Yahya*  $                   80,000
141 Shawn Jordan*  $                   80,000
142 Brandon Thatch*  $                   78,000
143 Ian McCall*  $                   77,000
144 Francis Carmont*  $                   76,000
145 Kenny Robertson*  $                   76,000
146 Reza Madadi*  $                   76,000
147 Jason High*  $                   75,000
148 Pat Healy*  $                   75,000
149 Brian Stann*  $                   73,000
150 Charles Oliveira  $                   71,000
151 Brandon Vera*  $                   70,000
152 Cheick Kongo*  $                   70,000
153 Sergio Moraes*  $                   70,000
154 Lorenz Larkin*  $                   69,000
155 Iliarde Santos*  $                   68,000
156 Piotr Hallmann*  $                   68,000
157 Tor Troeng*  $                   68,000
158 Jeremy Larsen*  $                   67,200
159 Chris Holdsworth  $                   66,000
160 Jon Fitch  $                   66,000
161 Mitch Gagnon*  $                   66,000
162 Manny Gamburyan  $                   65,000
163 Cat Zingano  $                   64,000
164 Thiago Tavares*  $                   63,000
165 Yves Edwards*  $                   63,000
166 Adriano Martins*  $                   62,000
167 Mac Danzig  $                   62,000
168 Nico Musoke*  $                   62,000
169 Omari Akhmedov*  $                   62,000
170 Zak Cummings*  $                   62,000
171 Alex Caceres*  $                   60,000
172 Cezar Ferreira*  $                   60,000
173 George Roop*  $                   60,000
174 John Howard  $                   60,000
175 Norman Parke*  $                   60,000
176 Matt Grice  $                   58,000
177 Stanislav Nedkov*  $                   58,000
178 Trevor Smith  $                   58,000
179 Gian Villante*  $                   57,000
180 Thiago Perpetuo*  $                   56,000
181 John Lineker*  $                   55,000
182 Erik Perez*  $                   54,000
183 Paulo Thiago*  $                   54,000
184 Liz Carmouche*  $                   53,000
185 Derek Brunson*  $                   51,000
186 Patrick Cote*  $                   50,000
187 Roger Gracie  $                   50,000
188 Steven Siler*  $                   50,000
189 Scott Jorgensen  $                   49,500
190 Fabio Maldonado*  $                   48,000
191 Ryan LaFlare*  $                   48,000
192 Seth Baczynski*  $                   48,000
193 Iuri Alcantara*  $                   46,000
194 Kelvin Gastelum*  $                   46,000
195 Soa Palelei*  $                   46,000
196 Matt Hamill*  $                   45,750
197 Robert Whittaker*  $                   45,000
198 Rony Jason*  $                   45,000
199 Pat Barry*  $                   44,000
200 Vinny Magalhaes*  $                   44,000
201 Maximo Blanco  $                   43,000
202 Dylan Andrews*  $                   42,000
203 Francisco Trinaldo*  $                   42,000
204 Adlan Amagov*  $                   40,000
205 Al Iaquinta*  $                   40,000
206 Brad Tavares*  $                   40,000
207 Daron Cruickshank*  $                   40,000
208 David Mitchell*  $                   40,000
209 Luke Rockhold*  $                   40,000
210 Ricardo Lamas*  $                   40,000
211 Sean Spencer*  $                   40,000
212 Stefan Struve*  $                   40,000
213 Stephen Thompson*  $                   40,000
214 Thales Leites*  $                   40,000
215 Vladimir Matyushenko*  $                   40,000
216 Hatsu Hioki*  $                   38,000
217 Uriah Hall  $                   38,000
218 Abel Trujillo*  $                   37,400
219 Alan Belcher*  $                   37,000
220 Ali Bagautinov*  $                   36,000
221 Anthony Njokuani  $                   36,000
222 Bobby Voelker*  $                   36,000
223 Caio Magalhaes*  $                   36,000
224 Chris Cariaso*  $                   36,000
225 Cody McKenzie*  $                   36,000
226 Francisco Rivera*  $                   36,000
227 Godofredo ‘Pepey’ Castro*  $                   36,000
228 Jimi Manuwa*  $                   36,000
229 Jorge Santiago*  $                   36,000
230 Matt Mitrione*  $                   36,000
231 Myles Jury*  $                   36,000
232 Robbie Peralta*  $                   36,000
233 Roger Bowling*  $                   36,000
234 Igor Pokrajac*  $                   34,000
235 Ivan Menjivar*  $                   34,000
236 Ryan Jimmo*  $                   34,000
237 Siyar Bahadurzada*  $                   34,000
238 Akira Corassani*  $                   32,000
239 Chris Camozzi*  $                   32,000
240 Clint Hester*  $                   32,000
241 Edwin Figueroa*  $                   32,000
242 Neil Magny*  $                   32,000
243 Ronny Markes*  $                   32,000
244 Colton Smith*  $                   30,000
245 Erik Koch*  $                   30,000
246 Matthew Riddle*  $                   30,000
247 Mike Brown  $                   30,000
248 Ryan Couture*  $                   30,000
249 Stipe Miocic*  $                   30,000
250 William ‘Patolino’ Macario*  $                   30,000
251 Jussier ‘Formiga’ da Silva*  $                   29,000
252 Lavar Johnson  $                   29,000
253 Alexis Davis*  $                   28,000
254 Amanda Nunes*  $                   28,000
255 Max Holloway  $                   28,000
256 Ramsey Nijem  $                   28,000
257 Riki Fukuda*  $                   28,000
258 Tim Elliott  $                   28,000
259 Tom Lawlor*  $                   28,000
260 Germaine de Randamie*  $                   27,000
261 Phil Harris*  $                   27,000
262 Felipe Arantes*  $                   26,000
263 Dan Miller*  $                   25,000
264 Chico Camos  $                   24,800
265 Dustin Kimura*  $                   24,400
266 Brian Melancon*  $                   24,000
267 Darren Uyenoyama  $                   24,000
268 Jessica Andrade*  $                   24,000
269 Justin Salas*  $                   24,000
270 Kazuki Tokudome*  $                   24,000
271 Mike Ricci*  $                   24,000
272 Robert McDaniel*  $                   24,000
273 Roland Delorme*  $                   24,000
274 Sam Sicilia*  $                   24,000
275 Vaughan Lee*  $                   24,000
276 Yves Jabouin*  $                   24,000
277 Costas Philippou*  $                   23,000
278 Dave Herman  $                   23,000
279 Jacob Volkmann  $                   22,000
280 Yaotzin Meza  $                   22,000
281 Nah-Shon Burrell  $                   21,600
282 Alessio Sakara*  $                   21,000
283 Chan Sung Jung*  $                   20,000
284 Estevan Payan  $                   20,000
285 Isaac Vallie-Flagg  $                   20,000
286 Jimy Hettes*  $                   20,000
287 Leonard Garcia  $                   20,000
288 Sean Pierson*  $                   20,000
289 Zach Makovsky  $                   20,000
290 Tim Means  $                   19,600
291 Eddie Wineland*  $                   19,000
292 Brian Ebersole  $                   18,000
293 Julie Kedzie*  $                   18,000
294 Matt Wiman*  $                   18,000
295 Michel Prazeres*  $                   18,000
296 Papy Abedi*  $                   18,000
297 Renee Forte*  $                   18,000
298 TJ Waldburger*  $                   18,000
299 Yancy Medeiros*  $                   18,000
300 Jamie Varner  $                   17,000
301 John Moraga  $                   17,000
302 Sarah Kaufman*  $                   17,000
303 Alptekin Ozkilic  $                   16,000
304 Brad Scott*  $                   16,000
305 Bristol Marunde*  $                   16,000
306 Cody Donovan  $                   16,000
307 Dustin Pague*  $                   16,000
308 Gunnar Nelson*  $                   16,000
309 James Vick  $                   16,000
310 Jared Rosholt  $                   16,000
311 Jessamyn Duke  $                   16,000
312 Josh Neer  $                   16,000
313 Josh Samman  $                   16,000
314 Julianna Pena  $                   16,000
315 Kyung Ho Kang*  $                   16,000
316 Leonardo Santos*  $                   16,000
317 Mike Rio*  $                   16,000
318 Nick Ring*  $                   16,000
319 Raquel Pennington  $                   16,000
320 Rodrigo Damm*  $                   16,000
321 Sergio Pettis  $                   16,000
322 Tom Niinimaki  $                   16,000
323 Wagner Prado*  $                   16,000
324 Yan Cabral*  $                   16,000
325 Josh Sampo  $                   15,200
326 Bart Palaszewski  $                   15,000
327 Diego Nunes*  $                   15,000
328 George Sotiropoulos*  $                   15,000
329 Joey Beltran*  $                   15,000
330 Josh Grispi*  $                   15,000
331 Aaron Riley  $                   14,000
332 Ben Alloway*  $                   14,000
333 Jared Hamman  $                   14,000
334 Jose Maria Tome*  $                   14,000
335 Karlos Vemola*  $                   14,000
336 Mike Russow*  $                   14,000
337 Rafaello Oliveira  $                   14,000
338 Rousimar Palhares*  $                   14,000
339 Brian Bowles  $                   13,300
340 Yuri Villefort*  $                   12,700
341 Alan Patrick*  $                   12,000
342 Alex Garcia*  $                   12,000
343 Andy Ogle*  $                   12,000
344 Antonio Braga Neto*  $                   12,000
345 Bethe Correia*  $                   12,000
346 Daniel Omielanczuk*  $                   12,000
347 Dustin Ortiz*  $                   12,000
348 Edimilson ‘Kevin’ Souza*  $                   12,000
349 Elias Silverio*  $                   12,000
350 Francimar Barroso*  $                   12,000
351 Igor Araujo*  $                   12,000
352 Ivan George*  $                   12,000
353 James Head*  $                   12,000
354 Jay Hieron  $                   12,000
355 Jessica Eye*  $                   12,000
356 Joao Zeferino*  $                   12,000
357 Justin Scoggins*  $                   12,000
358 Krzysztof Jotko*  $                   12,000
359 Kyoji Horiguchi*  $                   12,000
360 Magnus Cedenblad  $                   12,000
361 Michael Kuiper*  $                   12,000
362 Mitch Clarke*  $                   12,000
363 Mizuto Hirota*  $                   12,000
364 Nandor Guelmino*  $                   12,000
365 Rosi Sexton*  $                   12,000
366 Sara McMann*  $                   12,000
367 Sheila Gaff*  $                   12,000
368 Viscardi Andrade*  $                   12,000
369 Wilson Reis*  $                   12,000
370 Andre Fili*  $                   10,800
371 Fabricio Camoes  $                   10,000
372 Justin Edwards*  $                   10,000
373 Keith Wisniewski*  $                   10,000
374 Nam Phan*  $                   10,000
375 Paul Sass*  $                   10,000
376 Terry Etim*  $                   10,000
377 Will Campuzano  $                   10,000
378 Anthony Lapsley  $                    8,000
379 Anton Kuivanen  $                    8,000
380 Brock Jardine  $                    8,000
381 Che Mills*  $                    8,000
382 Chris Clements*  $                    8,000
383 Clifford Starks  $                    8,000
384 Colin Fletcher*  $                    8,000
385 Collin Hart  $                    8,000
386 Cristiano Marcello*  $                    8,000
387 David Grant  $                    8,000
388 Drew Dober  $                    8,000
389 Gilbert Smith  $                    8,000
390 Hacran Dias*  $                    8,000
391 Hugo Viana  $                    8,000
392 Issei Tamura*  $                    8,000
393 Jessica Rakoczy  $                    8,000
394 Jimmy Quinlan  $                    8,000
395 John Albert  $                    8,000
396 Johnny Bedford*  $                    8,000
397 Jon Manley  $                    8,000
398 Jon Tuck*  $                    8,000
399 Justin Lawrence  $                    8,000
400 Kevin Casey  $                    8,000
401 Louis Gaudinot  $                    8,000
402 Marcos Vinicius*  $                    8,000
403 Marcus Brimage*  $                    8,000
404 Margaret Morgan  $                    8,000
405 Mike Wilkinson*  $                    8,000
406 Nikita Krylov  $                    8,000
407 Pablo Garza*  $                    8,000
408 Phil De Fries*  $                    8,000
409 Reuben Duran*  $                    8,000
410 Richie Vaculik*  $                    8,000
411 Roxanne Modafferi  $                    8,000
412 Santiago Ponzinibbio*  $                    8,000
413 Thiago Santos*  $                    8,000
414 Ulysses Gomez*  $                    8,000
415 Walt Harris  $                    8,000
416 Adam Cella*  $                    6,000
417 Anthony Smith*  $                    6,000
418 Antonio Carvalho*  $                    6,000
419 Azamat Gashimov*  $                    6,000
420 Ben Wall*  $                    6,000
421 Besam Yousif*  $                    6,000
422 Brian Houston*  $                    6,000
423 Bruno Santos*  $                    6,000
424 C.J. Keith  $                    6,000
425 Chris Spang*  $                    6,000
426 Cyrille Diabate*  $                    6,000
427 Darrell Montague*  $                    6,000
428 Eddie Mendez*  $                    6,000
429 Ednaldo Oliveira*  $                    6,000
430 Garrett Whiteley*  $                    6,000
431 Ilir Latifi*  $                    6,000
432 Jesse Ronsen*  $                    6,000
433 John Cholish*  $                    6,000
434 John Maguire*  $                    6,000
435 Josh Clopton*  $                    6,000
436 Kurt Holobaugh*  $                    6,000
437 Leonardo Silva*  $                    6,000
438 Marcelo Guimaraes*  $                    6,000
439 Mike Stumpf*  $                    6,000
440 Milton Vieira*  $                    6,000
441 Motonobu Tezuka*  $                    6,000
442 Pedro Nobre*  $                    6,000
443 Quinn Mulhern*  $                    6,000
444 Ramiro Hernandez Jr.*  $                    6,000
445 Rob Whiteford*  $                    6,000
446 Roger Hollett*  $                    6,000
447 Simeon Thoresen*  $                    6,000

 

 

 

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