The Nevada State Athletic Commission on Friday released the UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem fighter salaries.
The main event featured a heavyweight showdown between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem to determine the No. 1 contender to current UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. Overeem came out and crushed Lesnar in short order, earning the shot at dos Santos, and then Lesnar decided he’d had enough of the fight game and called it quits.
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.
Although mixed martial arts fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters’ salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, pay-per-view bonuses, fight of the night bonuses, etc.), are not included in the figures below.
UFC 141 FIGHTER SALARIES
Alistair Overeem: $385,714.28 (includes $121,428.57 win bonus)
def. Brock Lesnar: $400,000 (flat rate; no win bonus)
Nate Diaz: $74,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus)
def. Donald Cerrone: $30,000
Johny Hendricks: $52,000 (includes $26,000 win bonus)
def. Jon Fitch: $60,000
Alexander Gustafsson: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
def. Vladimir Matyushenko: $40,000
Jim Hettes: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Nam Phan: $8,000
Ross Pearson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Junior Assuncao: $8,000
Danny Castillo: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Njokuani: $12,000
Dong Hyun Kim: $82,000 (includes $41,000 win bonus)
def. Sean Pierson: $8,000
Jacob Volkmann: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
def. Efrain Escudero: $10,000
Luis Ramos vs. Matt Riddle was cancelled
Diego Nunes: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Manny Gamburyan: $18,000
UFC 141 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $1,369,714.28
(UPDATE on Jan. 3, 2012: Fitch’s salary initially included a typo that included a win bonus. As he lost, he of course did not receive a win bonus, which has been reflected in the article.)
For more UFC News and UFC Rumors, follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.