UFC 121 Fighter Salaries: Lesnar and Ortiz Are The Big Money Winners

Velasquez walks away after finishing Lesnar at UFC 121.

The UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez fighter salaries were released on Tuesday by officials at the California State Athletic Commission.

The main event featured Cain Velasquez finishing off Brock Lesnar in the opening round to capture the UFC heavyweight championship. The event took place on Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., before  14,856 fans.

The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners’ bonuses. Any undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (such as pay-per-view bonuses), are not included in the figures below.

The total fighter payroll for UFC 121 totaled $1.513 million with Brock Lesnar and Tito Ortiz, both in losing efforts, topping the list of big money winners at $400,000 and $250,000 respectively.

Main Card Fighters (On Pay-Per-View):
Cain Velasquez: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus) def. Brock Lesnar: $400,000
Jake Shields: $150,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus) def. Martin Kampmann: $27,000
Diego Sanchez: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus) def. Paulo Thiago: $18,000
Matt Hamill: $58,000 (includes $29,000 win bonus) def. Tito Ortiz: $250,000
Brendan Schaub: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $67,000

Preliminary Card Fighters (On Spike TV):
Court McGee: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. Ryan Jensen: $10,000
Tom Lawlor: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Patrick Cote: $21,000

Preliminary Card Fighters (Non-Televised):
Daniel Roberts: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Mike Guymon: $8,000
Sam Stout: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus) def. Paul Taylor: $16,000
Chris Camozzi: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Dongi Yang: $8,000
Jon Madsen: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Gilbert Yvel: $30,000

UFC 121 Disclosed Fighter Payroll: $1,513,000