Brock Lesnar May Have Been Paid Much More During UFC Career Than Revealed
It appears that retired former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar may have made a lot more money throughout his tenure with the promotion than initially revealed.
Lesnar had eight fights with the UFC during his mixed martial arts (MMA) career from 2008 to 2016. Thanks to his notoriety from his early days in the WWE, Lesnar was one of the biggest draws the promotion had ever seen, and in turn, received some massive paydays. He last competed at UFC 200 back in 2016 when he bested Mark Hunt via unanimous decision.
Of course, the win was later overturned due to Lesnar testing positive for a banned substance. However, he still earned a $2.5 million payday, a massive raise from the $400,000 purse he received from fighting Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 in his previous fight from 2011.
According to Jason Cruz of MMAPayout, who obtained unredacted passages from Hal J. Singer, an expert for the Plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit between the UFC and several former fighters, Lesnar received $750,000 per fight when fighting as a non-champion. According to the document, Lesnar received half of that payday through the corporation DEATHCLUTCH within 30 days after the fight. It was then revealed he received the other half within 60 days after.
It was not noted which fights or for how many fights the deal was in effect. (via Bloody Elbow)
“For each and every Bout, in which Fighter participates where he is not recognized as a UFC Champion, by Zuffa, within thirty (30) days following the completion of each Bout, as contemplated in Section 7.1 (c) of the Promotional Agreement, Zuffa shall pay to DEATHCLUTCH, via bank wire or check, the amount of Three Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Dollars (US $375,000.00), less all permissible or required deductions and withholdings.
“Within sixty (60) days following the completion of each Bout, as contemplated in Section 7.1 (c) of the Promotional Agreement, Zuffa shall pay to DEATHCLUTCH, via bank wire or check, the additional amount of Three Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Dollars (US $375,000), less all permissible or required deductions and withholdings for a total combined payment of Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars (US $750,000.00).”
The following documentation then specified Lesnar’s championship pay.
” …an agreement with Brock Lesnar that specifies lump sums to be paid conditional on champion status (“For each and every Bout, in which Fighter participates where he is recognized as a UFC Champion by Zuffa, within thirty (30) days following the completion of each Bout, as contemplated in Section 7.1 (a) of the Promotional Agreement Zuffa shall pay to DEATHCLUCTH, via bank wire or check, the amount of Eight Hundred Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars (US $812,500.00), less permissible or required deductions and withholdings.
“Within sixty (60) days following the completion of each Bout, as contemplated in Section 7.1 (a) of the Promotional Agreement, Zuffa shall pay to DEATHCLUTCH, via bank wire or check, the additional amount of Eight Hundred Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars (US $812,500.00), less all permissible or required deductions and withholdings, for a total combined payment of One Million Six Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars (US $1,625,000.000).”
If the above documentation is to be believed to have been in effect for all of “The Beast’s” UFC fights from 2008-2011, Lesnar would have banked an estimated $7,875,000; and that’s not including his fight purses, performance bonuses, and pay-per-view (PPV) bonuses.
What do you think about Lesnar’s earnings over his UFC career?
