UFC 255 Fighter Salaries & Incentive Pay

It wasn’t her most exciting performance, but Valentina Shevchenko still retained her UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship last night at UFC 255, and was one of the event’s top earners.

Before we go any further, we should note that the Nevada Athletic Commission doesn’t release fighter pay info, so none of the following salary data for the event is official.  However, you can get a fairly accurate picture of a fighter’s pay based on official purse info released from past fights.  So, based on that info, here is the estimated pay breakdown for the 24 fighters that traded blows at the event.  But please remember – this is only an estimate, not official info.

(click on fighter’s name to see career earnings)

Deiveson Figueiredo:  $490,000 ($200,000 to show, $200,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance bonus – Dana White paid this in cash after the fact, $40,000 fight week incentive pay)

Valentina Shevchenko:  $390,000 ($350,000 to show, $40,000 fight week incentive pay)

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua:   $225,000 ($205,000 to show, $20,000 fight week incentive pay)

Tim Means:   $155,500 ($56,000 to show, $56,000 win bonus, $28,500 from Perry for missing weight, $15,000 fight week incentive pay)

Katlyn Chookagian:   $140,000 ($65,000 to show, $65,000 win bonus, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)

Alex Perez:   $130,000 ($100,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)

Jennifer Maia:   $130,000 ($100,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)

Antonina Shevchenko:   $124,000 ($35,000 to show, $35,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)

Alan Jouban:   $110,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)

Paul Craig:   $110,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)

Joaquin Buckley:  $77,500 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Brandon Moreno:   $75,000 ($35,000 to show, $35,000 win bonus, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)

Mike Perry:  $76,500 ($95,000 to show, $28,500 fine for missing weight, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)

Sasha Palatnikov:   $73,500 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Cynthia Calvillo:   $65,000 ($60,000 to show, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)

Louis Cosce:   $63,500 ($10,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Nicolas Dalby:   $29,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)

Kyle Daukaus:   $27,500 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Ariane Lipski:   $26,000 ($22,000 to show, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)

Daniel Rodriguez:   $24,000 ($20,000 to show, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)

Brandon Royval:   $23,500 ($20,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Jordan Wright:   $15,500 ($12,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Jared Gooden:  $13,500 ($10,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)

Dustin Stoltzfus:   $13,500 ($10,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)