UFC Vegas 81 Fighter Pay & Salaries: Sodiq Yusuff To Earn Over $250k In Payout For Main Event Fight

sodiq yusuff

UFC Vegas 81 stays at the UFC Apex for a stacked fight card from top to bottom. We have a featherweight main event fight between two surging contenders in the division Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza. Yusuff has been streaking winning 8 of his last 9 fights with his only UFC loss coming against one of the top contenders in the division Arnold Allen as he comes into his first UFC main event fight of his career. Meanwhile, this is Barboza’s third main event fight, and is coming off of an early brutal knockout victory against Billy Quarantillo. A win from either fighter will propel them up the featherweight rankings as they move closer to a potential title shot in the future.

In the co-main event, we have a women’s flyweight scrap between surging contenders, former title challenger Jennifer Maia and a mainstay at the top of the division Viviane Araujo. Maia lost two of her next three fights after losing her title shot against Valentina Shevchenko but she has since won two in a row most recently dominating rising contender Casey O’Neill in all aspects of the fight. Meanwhile, Viviane Araujo is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in her UFC career as her back is against the wall when she takes on Jennifer Maia this weekend at UFC Vegas 81.

With that said, these fighters can expect some hefty paydays this weekend so let’s check out what the expected fighter pay, salaries, and payouts will be.

Sodiq Yusuff is set to earn his biggest payday yet

Sodiq Yusuff is set to take on Edson Barboza in his first-ever main-event fight for the UFC. He is currently riding a two-fight winning streak winning seven out of his eight fights in the UFC with his lone loss coming against a top featherweight contender Arnold Allen. Barboza, however, looked the best he’s ever looked in his last fight where he knocked out Billy Quarantillo in under a minute into the very first round. Each one of these fighters will be making hefty paydays in this weekend’s main event and a win over one another should put them right into the top of the heap in the featherweight division.

UFC Vegas 81 Fighter Pay, Salaries, and Payouts

Using previously disclosed figures, we’ve crunched the numbers to foresee the potential payouts for the fighters on this weekend’s upcoming UFC Vegas 81 event in Las Vegas, NV

In total, the UFC is projected to pay out over $1.4 Million in salaries, incentives, and bonuses at UFC Vegas 81.

Headlining the main event, are Sodiq Yusuff and Edson Barboza. Barboza is expected to be the highest-paid fighter on the fight card.

Barboza is expected to be the highest-paid fighter at UFC Vegas 81 with his counterpart Sodiq Yusuff coming in as a close second. The UFC featherweight contender is set to earn a guaranteed payout of $271,000 this weekend.

Sodiq Yusuff ($256,000), Jonathan Martinez ($96,000), Darren Elkins ($91,000), and Chris Gutierrez ($86,000) round out the top-five highest-paid fighters at UFC Vegas 81 this weekend.

Top-5 Highest Paid Fighters at UFC Vegas 81:

  • Edson Barboza – $271,000
  • Sodiq Yusuff – $256,000
  • Jonathan Martinez – $96,000
  • Darren Elkins- $91,000
  • Chris Gutierrez – $86,000

Check out the projected UFC Vegas 81 payouts for each fighter below:

Fighter Base Pay Incentive Pay Guaranteed Salary
Edson Barboza $250,000 $21,000 $271,000
Sodiq Yusuff $250,000 $6,000 $256,000
Jennifer Maia $60,000 $11,000 $71,000
Jonathan Martinez $85,000 $11,000 $96,000
Adrian Yanez $60,000 $6,000 $66,000
Michel Pereira $50,000 $6,000 $56,000
Andre Petroski $18,000 $6,000 $24,000
Edgar Chairez $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Daniel Lacerda $20,000 $4,500 $24,500
Christian Rodriguez $20,000 $4,500 $24,500
Cameron Saaiman $20,000 $4,500 $24,500
Darren Elkins $70,000 $21,000 $91,000
TJ Brown $38,000 $6,000 $44,000
Tainara Lisboa $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Ravena Oliveira $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Terrance McKinney $60,000 $6,000 $66,000
Brandon Marotte $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Irina Alekseeva $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Melissa Dixon $12,000 $4,000 $16,000
Chris Gutierrez $75,000 $11,000 $86,000
Alatengheili $30,000 $6,000 $36,000
Ashley Yoder $38,000 $11,000 $49,000
Emily Ducote $20,000 $4,500 $24,500

UFC Vegas 81 Promotional Guidelines Compliance Pay

The UFC will pay out $218,000 worth of incentive pay to their fighters this weekend at UFC Vegas 80.

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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