Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire was the top earner from Saturday’s Bellator 228 card, taking up nearly 20 percent of the $1,086,050 paid out to the entire card.
Freire (30-4 MMA, 18-4 BMMA) received a flat $200,0000 to defend his featherweight title against Juan Archuleta (23-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA), who made $75,000 flat in a unanimous decision loss to “Pitbull” in the co-headlining bout at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
MMA Junkie today requested and received main card salary payouts for the DAZN-streamed fight card from the California State Athletic Commission, which regulates the event.
Freire’s payday came in higher than main event fighters Gegard Mousasi (46-7-2 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) and Lyoto Machida (26-9 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), who both received a flat $150,000 for their rematch, which saw Mousasi avenge a 2014 loss to “The Dragon” by unanimous decision.
Here are the final salaries for Bellator 228:
MAIN CARD
- Gegard Mousasi: $150,000 (no win bonus)
def. Lyoto Machida: $150,000 - Patricio Freire: $200,000 (no win bonus)
def. Juan Archuleta $75,000 - A.J. McKee: $50,000 (no win bonus)
def. Georgi Karakhanyan: $30,000 - Darrion Caldwell: $125,000 (no win bonus)
def. Henry Corrales: $30,000 - Daniel Weichel: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus)
def. Saul Rogers: $20,000
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Adrian Najera: $2,400 (includes $1,200 win bonus)
def. Jason Edwards: $1,200 - Benji Gomez: $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
def. Jonathan Santa Maria: $2,000 - Ozzy Diaz: $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
def. Andre Walker: $1,500 - Ian Butler: $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
def. Emilio Williams: $1,200 - A.J. Agazarm: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Jonathan Quiroz: $2,000 - Ava Knight: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Shannon Goughary: $3,000 - Antonio McKee: $25,000 (no win bonus)
def. William Sriyapai: $5,000 - Johnny Cisneros: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. Mike Jasper: $10,000 - Leandro Higo: $28,000 (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Shawn Bunch: $13,000 - Weber Almeida: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. Castle Williams: $2,000 - James Barnes: $4,500 (includes $2,250 win bonus)
def. David Duran: $2,250 - Joshua Jones: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
def. Dominic Clark: $2,000
Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors. They also do not include any other “locker room” or special discretionary bonuses Bellator could pay.
In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.
