UFC 286 Fighter Pay: Edwards, Usman To Earn Biggest Salaries & Payouts in London

Leon Edwards UFC

UFC 286 will be live from the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday night. In this article, we will go over the UFC fighter salaries ahead of this weekend’s fight card.

The UFC is heading back to the O2 Arena in London, England but this time with an absolutely stacked PPV event UFC 286. Headlining this fight card is England’s own Leon Edwards who is looking to shock the world again as he looks to defend his welterweight championship for the first time against the former longtime champion Kamaru Usman.

We also have a high-level lightweight bout between two of the division’s best strikers No. 3 Justin Gaethje and No. 6 Rafael Fiziev. This fight could arguably steal the show as these two are nonstop from the moment the bell rings until the moment the referee calls the fight off.

The rest of this card is littered with elite international talent and is one PPV event you certainly will not want to miss.

Let’s check out the UFC 286 fighter pay, salaries, and payouts for the PPV in London, England.

Leon Edwards Is Set To Earn His Biggest Payday

Edwards is finally getting the recognition that he truly deserves after scoring one of the biggest comeback knockouts in UFC history. He was on his way to losing a decision on the judge’s scorecards until “headshot bang” and his life dramatically changed.

He is now the undisputed welterweight champion, something his counterpart Usman was able to obtain for a whopping four years and five title defenses.

Edwards only walked away with $432,000 for his championship win at UFC 278 but now he is set to earn a base salary of $500,000 with potential incentives that could reach over $1 million.

UFC 286 Fighter Pay, Salaries, and Payouts

The UFC normally doesn’t disclose fighter pay for obvious reasons (contract negotiations) but there are some previously disclosed figures that can help us come to an appropriate estimate.

Using those figures, we’ve crunched the numbers to foresee the potential payouts for the fighters on this weekend’s upcoming PPV event UFC 286.

In total, the UFC will pay out over $2.7 million in salaries, incentives, and bonuses at UFC 286. Headlining the main event, Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman are expected to earn the most guaranteed salary.

Edwards leads all fighters with a guaranteed payout of $542,000 while Usman isn’t far behind at $532,000. Justin Gaethje, Rafael Fiziev, and Bryan Barberena are also among the highest-paid fighters at this week’s PPV event.

Check out the potential UFC 286 payouts for each fighter below:

Fighter Base Pay Incentive Pay Guaranteed Salary
Leon Edwards $500,000 $42,000 $542,000
Kamaru Usman $500,000 $32,000 $532,000
Justin Gaethje $350,000 $6,000 $356,000
Rafael Fiziev $250,000 $6,000 $256,000
Gunnar Nelson $75,000 $11,000 $86,000
Bryan Barberena $140,000 $16,000 $156,000
Jennifer Maia $75,000 $6,000 $81,000
Casey O’Neill $26,000 $4,500 $30,500
Marvin Vettori $80,000 $11,000 $91,000
Roman Dolidze $50,000 $6,000 $56,000
Jack Shore $30,000 $6,000 $36,000
Makwan Amirkhani $60,000 $11,000 $71,000
Chris Duncan 10,000 $4,000 $14,000
Omar Morales $26,500 $6,000 $32,500
Sam Patterson $10,000 $4,000 $14,000
Yanal Ashmoz $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Muhammad Mokaev $20,000 $4,500 $24,500
Jafel Filho $10,000 $4,000 $14,000
Lerone Murphy $30,000 $4,500 $34,500
Gabriel Santos $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Christian Leroy Duncan $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Dusko Todorovic $24,000 $6,000 $30,000
Jake Hadley $10,000 $4,000 $14,000
Malcolm Gordon $20,000 $6,000 $26,000
Joanne Wood $75,000 $11,000 $86,000
Luana Carolina $26,000 $6,000 $32,000
Jai Herbert $18,000 $6,000 $24,000
L’udovit Klein $16,000 $6,000 $22,000
Veronica Macedo $12,000 $6,000 $18,000
Juliana Miller $12,000 $4,000 $16,000

*Note: All figures are estimates. UFC does not disclose salary unless required by state law.

UFC 286 Staff Salaries

Below is a list of the potential salaries for the UFC staff for this weekend’s upcoming UFC 285.

  • UFC Ring Girl Salary: $1,000 to $5,000 per event
  • UFC Referee Salary: $700 to $2,500 per event
  • UFC Ring Announcers Salaries: $50,000 to $75,000 per event

UFC 286 Promotional Guidelines Compliance Pay

The UFC will pay out $251,500 worth of incentive pay to their fighters this weekend at UFC 286.

The incentive pay is generated by the UFC’s sportswear sponsor Venum’s deal which is paid out to the fighters via tiers based on their tenure with the company. This tenure includes Zuffa-era WEC fights, from January 2007 on, as well as Zuffa-era Strikeforce fights from April 2011 on.

Fighters with 1-3 professional bouts under the UFC/Zuffa banner will receive $4,000, 4-5 fights pay out $4,500, 6-10 bouts pay out $6,000, 11-15 pay out $11,000, 16-20 pay out $16,000 and 21 fights or more pays out $21,000. Meanwhile, title challengers are paid $32,000 and champions are paid $42,000.


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