Main-event fighters Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez each were scheduled to take home $150,000 for their fight at UFC on ESPN+ 27 this past Saturday.
In the headliner, Figueiredo (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) knocked out Benavidez (28-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) – but couldn’t win the vacant flyweight title after missing weight for the bout. He also was fined 30 percent of his purse, which means he forfeited $45,000 of his pay to Benavidez – dropping him down to $105,000 and Benavidez up to $195,000.
MMA Junkie on Tuesday obtained the list of disclosed paydays for Saturday night’s card at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va., from the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, which oversaw the event.
The other top winners on the card included Marcin Tybura (18-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC), who picked up $136,000 for his decision win over Serghei Spivac (10-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), and Megan Anderson (10-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who netted $80,000 for her win over Norma Dumont (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).
The total disclosed payroll for the event was $945,000.
The full list of disclosed UFC on ESPN+ 27 paydays included:
- Deiveson Figueiredo: $105,000* (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Joseph Benavidez: $195,000** - Felicia Spencer: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus)
def. Zarah Fairn: $10,000 - Magomed Ankalaev: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus)
def. Ion Cutelaba: $33,000 - Megan Anderson: $80,000 (includes $40,000 win bonus)
def. Norma Dumont: $10,000 - Grant Dawson: $19,600*** (includes $14,000 win bonus)
def. Darrick Minner: $18,400**** - Luis Pena: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus)
def. Steve Garcia: $12,000 - Kyler Phillips: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Gabriel Silva: $10,000 - Brendan Allen: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Tom Breese: $10,000 - Marcin Tybura: $136,000 (includes $68,000 win bonus)
def. Serghei Spivac: $14,000 - Jordan Griffin: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. TJ Brown: $10,000 - Spike Carlyle: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Aalon Cruz: $10,000 - Sean Brady: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Ismail Naurdiev: $16,000
*Figueiredo was fined 30 percent of his $150,000 purse for missing weight, which went to Benavidez.
**Benavidez took 30 percent of Figueiredo’s $150,000 fight purse.
***Dawson was fined 30 percent of his $28,000 purse for missing weight, which went to Minner.
****Minner took 30 percent of Dawson’s $28,000 fight purse.
The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, including the official UFC on ESPN+ 27 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay. They also do not include any other “locker room” or special discretionary bonuses the UFC sometimes pays. They also do not include pay-per-view cuts that some top-level fighters receive.
For example, UFC officials handed out additional $50,000 UFC on ESPN+ 27 fight-night bonuses to Anderson and Griffin for “Performance of the Night,” and Phillips and Silva for “Fight of the Night.”
In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.
