Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will likely be the highest-paid fighter on the card at UFC Vegas 53 on Saturday. The former UFC champion’s last disclosed pay was a base pay of $325,000, a massive salary for any fighter on a UFC Fight Night card in 2022.
UFC fighters are contractually unable to disclose their pay, while the majority of state athletic commissions allow these figures to remain undisclosed. However, with a little bit of guesswork using previously disclosed and comparable figures, finding out roughly how much each fighter at UFC Vegas 53 gets paid is still very possible.
To find out more about UFC Vegas 53 fighter salaries, continue reading as we explore the potential payouts for each UFC fighter, official, announcer, and even ring girl for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night from Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC Vegas 53 Fighter Salaries | UFC Fighter Pay
The main event of UFC Vegas 53 is a men’s bantamweight showdown between No. 5 ranked Rob Font, and No 8. ranked Marlon Vera.
Marlon Vera has taken home $150,000 worth of performance bonuses over the past two years, with two ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses and one ‘Performance of the Night,’ for his knockout win over Frankie Edgar at UFC 268 back in November of last year.
As for Rob Font, the New-England cartel product has picked up $100,000 worth of bonuses in his last four UFC appearances. Font is coming off back to back five-round main events that were both bonus worth affairs, but his most recent bonus check was cashed with a first-round knockout win over Marlon Moraes in December of 2020, a knockout that was good enough to earn a $50,000 ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
To find out more about UFC Vegas 53 fighter pay, check out the table below.
| UFC Vegas 53 Fighter | UFC Base Pay | UFC Win Bonus | UFC Incentive Pay | Total Guaranteed UFC Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Arlovski | $325,000 | $325,000 | $21,000 | $346,000 |
| Rob Font | $90,000 | $90,000 | $11,000 | $101,000 |
| Marlon Vera | $75,000 | $75,000 | $16,000 | $91,000 |
| Darren Elkins | $62,000 | $62,000 | $21,000 | $83,000 |
| Andre Fili | $55,000 | $55,000 | $21,000 | $76,000 |
| Krzysztof Jotko | $54,000 | $54,000 | $11,000 | $65,000 |
| Gerald Meerschaert | $43,000 | $43,000 | $11,000 | $54,000 |
| Chase Sherman | $15,000 | $15,000 | $11,000 | $26,000 |
| Jake Collier | $19,000 | $19,000 | $6,000 | $25,000 |
| Jared Gordon | $18,000 | $18,000 | $6,000 | $24,000 |
| Alexander Romanov | $20,000 | $20,000 | $4,000 | $24,000 |
| Gina Mazany | $16,000 | $16,000 | $6,000 | $22,000 |
| Grant Dawson | $14,000 | $14,000 | $6,000 | $20,000 |
| Joanderson Brito | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Tristan Connelly | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Daniel Lacerda | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Francisco Figueiredo | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Gabriel Green | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Yohan Lainesse | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Natan Levy | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Mike Breeden | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Shanna Young | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Tatsuro Taira | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Carlos Candelario | $12,000 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
*UFC Vegas 53 salary figures are estimations based on recently reported payouts or comparable fighter salaries.
UFC Vegas 53 Staff Salaries
Below, we’ll break down some of the projected staff salaries for UFC Vegas 53.
- 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 Vegas 53 Promotional Guidelines Compliance Pay
The UFC will pay out over $195,000 worth of incentive pay to UFC fighters for UFC Vegas 53 this weekend. Last week at UFC Vegas 52, the UFC paid out over $163,000 in incentive pay to UFC fighters.
The incentive pay generated by Venum sportswear’s multi-year sponsorship deal with the UFC is disbursed under the UFC’s promotional guidelines compliance program and is paid out in tiers, depending on each fighter’s tenure with the UFC. 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 $4000, 4-5 fights pays out $4,5000, 6-10 bouts pays out $6,000, 11-15 pays out $11,000, 16-20 pays out $16,000 and 21 fights or more pays out $21,000. Although it does not apply for this fight card at UFC Vegas 53, title challengers are paid out $32,000, while champions are paid out $42,000.
