UFC 139 payouts: Cung Le earns event-high $350,000 in defeat

UFC 139 fighter payouts for those who competed at the "Shogun vs. Hendo" pay-per-view (PPV) event this past Saturday night (Nov. 19, 2011) from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., were released to MMAmania.com this evening by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le got paid like a Hollywood action hero, pocketing $350,000 for his co main event nose re-arranging technical knockout loss to Wanderlei Silva, who earned $200,000 for finally resurrecting the "Axe Murderer" inside the Octagon.  

Dan Henderson wasn't too far behind Le, earning a cool quarter-million for his 25-minute war with Mauricio Rua in the main event of the evening. "Shogun" left the "Shark Tank" with more than just cuts, bumps and bruises, taking home $165,000 to Brazil for his part in perhaps the "Fight of the Century" thus far. 

Here is the complete list of UFC 139 salaries and payouts:

Dan Henderson -- $250,000
Mauricio Rua -- $165,000
Henderson defeated Rua via unanimous decision

Wanderlei Silva -- $200,000
Cung Le -- $350,000
Silva defeated Le via technical knockout (strikes) in round two

Urijah Faber --  $64,000 ($32,000 to show, $32,000 to win)
Brian Bowles -- $19,000
Faber defeated Bowles via submission (guillotine choke) in round two

Stephan Bonnar -- $68,000 ($34,000 to show, $34,000 to win)
Kyle Kingsbury -- $10,000
Bonnar defeated Kingsbury via unanimous decision

Martin Kampmann -- $58,000 ($29,000 to show, $29,000 to win)
Rick Story -- $19,000
Kampmann defeated Story via split decision

Ryan Bader -- $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win)
Jason Brilz -- $13,000
Bader defeated Brilz via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Michael McDonald -- $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Alex Soto -- $6,000
McDonald defeated Soto via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

Chris Weidman -- $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Tom Lawlor -- $12,000
Weidman defeated Lawlor via submission (d'arce choke) in round one

Gleison Tibau -- $54,000 ($27,000 to show, $27,000 to win)
Rafael dos Anjos -- $16,000
Tibau defeated dos Anjos via split decision

Miguel Torres -- $60,000 ($30,000 to show, $30,000 to win)
Nick Pace -- $4,000
Torres defeated Pace via unanimous decision

Seth Baczynski -- $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Matt Brown -- $12,000
Baczynski defeated Brown via submission (guillotine choke) in round two

Danny Castillo -- $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 to win)
Shamar Bailey -- $8,000
Castillo defeated Bailey via technical knockout (strikes) in round one

The total disclosed payroll for UFC 139: "Shogun vs. Hendo" was $1,524,000.

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 139 click here. In addition, Pace and Bailey were required to forfeit 20 percent of their fight purses to their opponents for failing to make weight in their respective bouts.

For complete UFC 139 results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.