UFC 106 fighter salaries and paydays for 'Ortiz vs. Griffin 2'
by Jesse Holland on Nov 23, 2009 1:23 PM EST
in UFC Payouts
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The official fighter purses for those who competed at UFC 106: "Ortiz vs. Griffin 2" this past Saturday night (Nov. 21) from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, were released earlier today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).
As expected, main event participants and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz, accounted for nearly 50 percent of the entire payroll with their combined salaries ($500,000).
Former number one welterweight contender Josh Koscheck also had a big night, pulling in $106,000 for his submission win over the hard-hitting Anthony Johnson. Coupled with his double-shot fighter bonus, it might be safe to assume he's treating the AKA boys to breakfast at least once this week.
Also breaking the six figure mark was Antonio Rogerio Nogueira ($100,000). He also broke Luis Can en route to a first round stoppage and a place among the light heavyweight contenders.
Here is the complete list of UFC 106 payouts:
Forrest Griffin -- $250,000 ($150,000 to show, $100,000 to win)
Tito Ortiz -- $250,000
Griffin defeated Ortiz via split decision
Josh Koscheck -- $106,000 ($53,000 to show, $53,000 to win)
Anthony Johnson -- $17,000
Koscheck defeated Johnson via submission (rear naked choke) in round two
Paulo Thiago -- $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Jacob Volkmann -- $6,000
Thiago defeated Volkmann via unanimous decision
Amir Sadollah -- $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win)
Phil Baroni -- $25,000
Sadollah defeated Baroni via unanimous decision
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira -- $100,000 ($70,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Luis Arthur Cane -- $19,000
Nogueira defeated Cane via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
Ben Saunders -- $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Marcus Davis -- $27,000
Saunders defeated Davis via knockout in round one
Kendall Grove -- $44,000 ($22,000 to show, $22,000 to win)
Jake Rosholt -- $15,000
Grove defeated Rosholt via submission (triangle choke) in round one
Brian Foster -- $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
Brock Larson -- $25,000
Foster defeated Larson via submission (strikes) in round one
Caol Uno -- $20,000
Fabricio Camoes -- $10,000
Uno battled Camoes to a majority draw
George Sotiropoulos -- $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Jason Dent -- $8,000
Sotiropoulos defeated Dent via submission (armbar) in round two
Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.
For example, the UFC often hands out extra cash for "Fight of the Night," "Knockout of the Night" and "Submission of the Night." To check out these figures for UFC 106 go here.
The total base fighter payroll for the pay-per-view (PPV) event, which attracted an official crowd of 10,529 attendees and a live gate of $3.0 million, was $1,021,000.
For complete results and coverage of "Ortiz vs. Griffin 2" click here and here.
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250k lmao
Tito pulled in over 1 million, I guarantee it. Signing bonus and ppv %. he had to have pulled in another 2 or 3 million in endorsements. not bad for a B level at best fighter.
My fan post (with poll) recaps the whole event!
b level?
Tito didnt fight for 2 years and he comes back and fights a way tougher forresst griffen then he fought before and puts up a really good fight against the guy who was just champion……..get a grip on reality and dont let your hate cloud your judgment
-Truth
I’m a huge fan but Tito’s best days are behind him.
He was the dominant 205 out there but that was
In his prime. He’s done as a top tier fighter.
He is, tho, a pioneer of the sport, and a future
UFC Hall of Famer for sure.
Would like to see Tito/Franklin.
by SouthCaliStunNa on Nov 23, 2009 2:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Apparently Franklin/Jardine is in the works.
"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."
Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)
by Jeremyjackson on Nov 23, 2009 4:03 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed.....
besides 1 minute in the 2nd round, he did nothing, Rashad,Jardine and Sliva all showed what happens when Forrest steps up and fights the big boys…..Rampage and Shogun were both hurt and at best 50%….what would the Shogun who fought Machida do to Forrest?
how was rampage hurt?
50% my ass. wheres the proof? rampage didnt flip his lid until AFTER the forrest loss.quit making excuses. forrest was hurt(shoulder) against rua as well. styles make fights and forrest would match up just fine with any lhw aside from anderson. can’t stand fans who hate on fighters just b/c they beat one of their favorwites-whaaaaaa! grow up!
Shogun was in horrible shape for both the Forrest and Coleman fights, normally he doesn’t gas after one round. The Shogun that faced Chuck and Machida would murder Forrest. Rampage also got robbed in the decision loss.
Forrest isn’t that good, he’s got good heart and cardio that’s it, he gets KO’d by heavy punchers and his biggest wins are over fighters not at their peak. He has no punching power and limited striking technique, plus when he’s on his back taking punches he looks like a fish out of water flopping about for air.
Seriously??
How you can say that he put up a really good fight against Forrest is beyond me. All he did the entire fight was get a few takedowns and land an elbow or two. That’s not enough to win a fight or even be competitive. He routinely gets embarrassed in the stand-up game no matter who he fights. He is barely a B-level fighter. Who has he beat ever? Ken Shamrock? Yuki Kondo? I’ll give you Wanderlei before he ran through Pride and I’ll give you Vitor. That’s it. I won’t give you the first Forrest fight. There isn’t anyone in the the top 10 at 205 that he could beat. Not one guy. Of course, after he lost he would just complain about injuries anyway. I wonder how his cracked skull is doing.
I'm a fan too
and B level is giving him credit!
he beat Vitor when Vitor’s head wasn’t right. He beat Shamrock 10 yrs after his prime, I mean come on! i had this fight as a draw, but “a way tougher Forrest?” I see Forrest as B level. He is totally the product of TUF hype machine!
what do you consider B level
Forest is a consensus top 5-7 lhw who only fights top competition. gotta give him an A- level
dude.....i am
Forrest would get killed by the following
Rashad
Cain
Shogun(healed)
Nog
Machida
Vera
Randy
Rampage
Sliva
Sliva
anybody else I’m missing?
Yeah.
Mousasi
Jones
Bader
Hendo
Franklin
"Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once."
Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37)
by Jeremyjackson on Nov 23, 2009 5:16 PM EST up reply actions
A couple small guys for your list.
GSP
Penn
Alves
Anthony Johnson
Fedor is the king…
P4P best ever.
Now get on your knees…
and bow down to the sweater!!! -infamous Mania Blogger.
And don't forget . . .
Andy Wang, Monstah Lobstah, Marlon Sims and Danny Abaddi.
I'm kind of a big deal.
how do you guarantee it?
Was is your source for the myth that Tito made over $1 million? Seriously, enlighten us. Endorsements probably helped, but a mil? I don’t think so.
Also, where is the “world record contract” that he was bragging he had? Funny how he (for once) isn’t talking about it.
use ur head
did you see Randy’s contract/ did you see the signing bonus affliction gave fedor? The thing in ALL pro sorts is up front guaranteed money. Take whatever he got as a signing bonus, add his “base” salary and divide by number of fights on his contract, I’m guaranteeing you it averages over a million a fight!
Oh, so...you really have no source.
I thought you might have an article to reference or something concrete, instead you are just well…guessing
Just because they structure contracts differently in other sports doesn’t mean that they do it in the UFC. Affliction’s contract with Fedor isn’t a solid indicator…that was FEDOR and with a different promotion (that BTW went out of business because they had such inflated contracts) and no I didn’t see Randy’s contract, can you send us a link to some sort of info on it? And even if Randy does get part of the PPV take…it doesn’t mean a washed up Tito does. What signing bonus? Just because they have signing bonuses for top guys in other sports doesn’t mean Tito is getting one. He needed the UFC, not the other way around.
SO REALLY YOU HAVE NO HARD PROOF THAT TITO MADE ANYTHING MORE THAN THE $250,000 LISTED ABOVE. You’re just lying.
Oh and BTW, “guarantee” means that you will compensate us in some way if you are wrong. Since you can’t do that I’m guessing you mean that you are “sure” of it. Although, you really cant be sure of it as you are just guessing. What is it with Tito fans?
ARE YOU SERIOUS?
It’s widely known that Tito gets ppv % (even if it’s 1%) and lets see how long it takes me to find Randy’s contract via google
Interesting...
Wow RANDY does well. Too bad Tito isn’t Randy and is therefore not making anywhere near Randy dollars, LIKE I SAID ABOVE. Tito tested the waters at other promotions and this is the best he could get. A straight salary.
And BTW, saying that something is widely know isnt really convincing. At one time it was widely “known” that the earth was flat. Sorry just because you say it doesn’t mean it’s real. Show some short of proof, and I’m not talking about your word. “Widely known”….lmfao.
all i can say is wow!
It’s “widely known” that “big draws” Randy, GSP, BJ, Tito anderson silva all get ppv %. Tito, believe it or not hypes himself into a big draw. Before you sound like more of an uneducated jackass, do some research! Tito said last week the reason Anderson called him out is more ppv buys. Why was randy the first draw to actually step up to fight overseas? Because it’s “widely known” the europe shows that are tape delayed don’t sell many ppv’s hence no big pay day, thats why you never see any aforementioned guys on ppv’s. Randy stepped up, “saved” a card and I’m sure got compensated accordingly!
Well, I 'm satisfied...
Um, ya, I’m completely convinced. Ya, some guy… on the internet… says it’s “widely known”. I bet that would hold up in court. How about a source?
Being that you didn’t understand what the word “guarantee” means, I’m not really convinced you know what you are talking about. If it’s widely known, tell me the EXACT percentage that Tito makes on PPV. Should be easy to state the EXACT number and the source of that number because it’s “widely known”. Obviously Randy gets a percentage of the PPV but there is nothing ANYWHERE that says Tito does. Some other guys probably do too and Tito may have even at one point but he is such a has been I suspect he doesn’t anymore. Sorry saying it’s “widely known” WHEN IT ISN’T… well, not exactly a convincing argument. You see “Widely known” means that most people know, since there is NO INFORMATION as to if Tito gets a PPV% or even a signing bonus it’s NOT widely known. I know, I know, english is tough for people like you. Keep on believing that you “know” something that you really only guess is true. Are Vampires and Unicorns real too? Is that “widely known” as well?
by StrikerDave on Nov 24, 2009 11:29 AM EST up reply actions
Oh and BTW...
Oh, and by the way, a few big draws have fought in Europe. You probably haven’t heard of Wanderlei, Franklin, Rampage, Henderson, Crocop, Shogun, Coleman. Oh and the “aforementioned” BJ Penn. They all fought in Europe. So, it’s now it’s “widely known” that you don’t know what you are talking about and are just making stuff up like Tito does…just spouting off without any real ownership of what you are saying. Explains why you lick Tit’s b@lls so much.
There needs to be some changes
As a loyal fan of MMA it pisses me off that guys like Jason Dent are making 8k per fight.
He puts on a great performance on Spike TV and gets 8k??? Sad. very sad.
There needs to be a 15k min for a UFC fight and it’s not like they can’t afford it. AND
if your fight gets put on TV the min salary should escalate to 25k as a Min.
Dana – Where is my 59.99 going from last weekend? I’d like a spreadsheet on my desk my Thursday at noon.
Most of us need to be reminded what we already know before we need to be taught a new lesson
*by Thursday
Most of us need to be reminded what we already know before we need to be taught a new lesson
jason dent
Well considering how 2 fights ago the guy was probly not even getting paid 1000$ per fight, its not that bad
still - he's on TV and SPIKE - UFC are making ad money
Trickle it down to the folks
Most of us need to be reminded what we already know before we need to be taught a new lesson
and 8k is nothing...
when you fight 4 times a year or less.
Most of us need to be reminded what we already know before we need to be taught a new lesson
Just make sure you use the new TPS cover sheet. Do you have a copy of the memo?
I'm kind of a big deal.
8k is just fine
You can’t look at it as 8k. It’s 16k if he does his job right!
If Dent fights 3x in a year and loses 3x, he’s out of the UFC. He’ll have grossed 24k in base salary. That is the worst case scenario, and while it is bad, there is nothing forcing him to be a fighter. Professional sports don’t reward participants for mediocrity, and MMA is no different.
Reality is, Dent has fought twice so far in 2009. First time he won and earned $8k+$8k. He also won a 25k sub of the night. Second time he won he earned $8k, so that is $16k in base pay, 8k in win bonuses, and 25k in special bonuses, so his actual pay is 49. Median income in the US is around 43k.
Count the fact that he is paid by his sponsor for appearing before a million households for his fight on Spike this past weekend (ballparking $500 for that), and he’s well over median income. If he is good enough to hang in the UFC, he’ll fight 3x-4x next year and win at least two. It’s not amazing money, but it is in line with what the average American makes.
sponsorships are more then $500
Way more, sponsor ships are often times 2-3x what a fighter makes in Salary.
If you’ve fought for the UFC then you can leave and fight for any other organization, they love ex UFC/TUF veterans. Kalin Starnes just headlined a fight card in my city.
Shogun lost a close decision! Everyone get crazy!
Damn
60$?? I only pay 50$ for HD…
As for the salary I do think there should be a floor but you also need to remember that the fighters must get more sponsor money if they are on a televised show, if they arent getting more for that then they need better representation.
Tito won
Tito won IMO, but he should’t have cried about it.
Lil Nog and Killa B (one of the worst nicknames ever) were the most impressive fighters of the night.
by BNF on Nov 23, 2009 1:33 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Grove’s performance was awesome!
BNF, IMO Tito won the first 2 rounds and the 3rd was easily a 10-8 round. I scored it a draw. The 30-27 just goes to show we need a new scoring system. It’s not boxing!
Kendall was impressive
But Ben just seems like a beast at WW. He really looked 2 weight classes bigger. I wonder how much he cuts?
by BNF on Nov 23, 2009 2:27 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
me too
I wonder what he cuts from, he’s a big dude! Better put some wins together and demand his undeserved title shot before he can no longer make that weight!
LOL
Koscheck is the only guy I want to see fight GSP in the UFC WW division.
by BNF on Nov 23, 2009 2:58 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
agree again
Johnson was huge compared to Kos, yet Kos looked stronger. I’m not saying he’d beat GSP (as I’ve said, no WW will), but I think he could neutralize GSP’s wrestling for a round or two!
i still think kos was way over paid..
lots of the pay outs were lop sided..it just seems like they pull numbers outta their asses when it comes to paying people..like when someone beats a person and still makes less than the person they were fighting seems wrong..and kos sooooo did not earn both bonuses…just a lil f*cked up.
the difference between a brown noser and a sh*t head..is depth perception!
You nailed that one...
Fedor is the king…
P4P best ever.
Now get on your knees…
and bow down to the sweater!!! -infamous Mania Blogger.
half and half
I agree lil nog was spectacular last night and
Is the best addition to the 205 that the UFC could
Acquire (with maybe exception of Mousassi).
Ben was way more impressive than Kendall imo.
Vicous clinch game. Saunders/rumble or Rumble/semtex
by SouthCaliStunNa on Nov 23, 2009 2:30 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
He is the first person to ever finish marcus davis other then the ref stoping the fight because of a cut
If that doesnt impress you , i dont know what would
lmao
this is coming from a Davis fan… after the repeated beatings, a 36 year old man is eventually going to be stopped. If that isn’t conceivable to you, than it doesn’t take much to impress you! The arm bar to triangle transition by Grove, now that was impressive. the repeated uppercuts that Amir just took, that was impressive, giving a 36 year old a beating, the same beating he’s gotten his last few fights and stopping him… not so impressive!
Salaries are getting better
I think it is positive to see that salaries have improved. It’s good to no longer see salaries that are less than $5000. Also, although not listed Hazelett got his salary plus winning bonus for the Karo fight that never happened.
Even in tough economic times the UFC improved on this aspect.
Who Cares?
Why do you guys care about how much these guys get paid? As long as they put on good fights, I’m happy!
AGREED AND AMEN!!!
It’s put out there, but I agree, who cares! I wrote a huge comment last year about this topic, violent mike I believe saved it because it was very good and made sense. People complain about what pro athletes BASE pay is, yet there are millions working for far less!I for one don’t give 2 shits as far as how little some guys fight for, it’s their choice!
right on
You hit it Kev. These guys are making a livable wage doing what they love. Nobody put a gun to their head when they signed the contract. There are plenty of people in worse situation, but it would be nice to see some of these guys get taken care of for laying it all on the line, but if they continue to fight well then they’ll get payed more in the future. I don’t have a major beef with the amount fighters are paid.
Plus, the complainers never take into account the fact that Dana rewards a strong effort, win or lose, with some under-the-table cash.
I'm kind of a big deal.
No thanks
I prefer to not get punched in the face and get my tug jobs in glory holes like a normal person.
I'm kind of a big deal.
I care
I want to see men that dedicate their lives to a dangerous sport get paid accordingly for their sacrifices, I’m not asking for them all to get paid F-1 leves of money but they do deserve to make a good living out of competing in a sport we all love.
I think it’s disrespectful to the fighters to not give a shit if they’re barely being paid, if supposed fans don’t give a toss then who does?
hey bro
you like shopping at you local grocery store too, do you need to see the bag boy make more money too?
Well...
what bothers me even more than the principle of their under payment is thinking about how insignificant to Zuffa’s bottom line bumping their pay would be. Zuffa makes millions upon millions in profits every PPV and they can’t afford to cough up ~20k for a fighter who is running the risk of brain damage among other serious injuries? And don’t give me that voluntary choice B.S. combat sports is nothing like the local grocery store. Half these fighters are too stupid to know what’s good for them and would fight for free if they thought they could eventually “rise up” the ladder.
So they should be paid more because they're stupid?
Seriously, Zuffa’s pay scale is set up perfectly. If you are athletic and skilled enough to win fights in the UFC, you will make a lot of money. The lowest pay we’re seeing is what, 6k? Fight and win 4x a year and you make $48k not including sponsors; put on a particularly impressive performance or finish, and that could easily be elevated to $80-100k. I don’t know of many entry level positions that pay $100k.
A year down the line you come to the end of your contract, and having been given the opportunity to perform in front of millions of MMA fans, you played your cards right, made yourself marketable, and you’re starting to pick up a following, so your 6k show / 6k win contract turns into 15k show / 15k win. Fight 4x and win 3, you make $105k + say $5k from sponsors and potential for $50k in bonuses.
By this point, you should be a contender and taking bigger fights on bigger cards. It’s almost time for another contract negotiation, and this is where your hard work will have paid off. If you put in the time, thought, and effort into being marketable and making fans, you get another raise to $25k / 25k and get say $5-$10k /year from sponsorships. 2 wins, 1 loss this year, and you’re looking at $135k in salary + sponsors, + the potential for 50k in other bonuses.
The point is that you can move up quickly in the UFC, but you need to have the athleticism and skills to hang with the competition and have the attitude to get attention.
Kos banked it
A cool quarter million
Confucius says:
"Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk."
POLL: Is Tito Overpaid?
I think his paycheck has 1 too many zeros.
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