UFC 216 Salaries: Tony Ferguson Makes Bank
The Nevada State Athletic Commission released the UFC 216 salaries on Sunday, and some of the top tier talents got paid some major cash.
UFC 216 took place on Saturday, October 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The preliminary card aired on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 7 p.m. ET as well as FX at 8 p.m. ET. The main card was broadcasted on PPV at 10 p.m. ET.
An interim UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee served as the main event. Each fighter received a show purse of $250,000. As seen in the fight, Ferguson was able to lock in a triangle choke late in the third round to win the interim lightweight title. With that win, Ferguson earned another $250,000.
If Lee won the bout, then he would have put another $50,000 in his bank account, but he was unable to do so. One has to wonder if the hard weight cut on Friday morning affected Lee’s conditioning in this fight. His first weigh-in attempt was at 156 then he had one hour to lose the pound, which he did to weigh-in at 155 to make the title fight official.
Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg in a flyweight title bout served as the co-main event. This was a big night for Johnson as he hit a suplex to set up an armbar in the late stages of the five-round fight.
It was stunning, to say the least. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award and set the 11th successful title defense record, surpassing former middleweight champion Anderson Silva record of 10 in UFC.
Johnson got $370,000 and pay-per-view points for the first time in his career. On the flip side, Borg earned a flat payment of $100,000.
The other notable payout that was released prior to the event going live was Fabricio Werdum vs. Walt Harris in a heavyweight bout. The former UFC heavyweight champion earned a show purse of $275,000 as well as another $125,000 for the quick armbar win in the opening minute of the first round.
On the flip side, Harris, who decided to move up the card as Werdum’s opponent when Derrick Lewis withdrew from the event just hours prior to its start, earned $28,000 to show. If he were able to score the upset win, then he would have earned another $28,000.
Here is the list of salaries:
Tony Ferguson: $500,000 (includes $250,000 win bonus) def. Kevin Lee: $250,000
Demetrious Johnson: $370,000 (no win bonus) def. Ray Borg: $100,000
Fabricio Werdum: $400,000 (includes $125,000 win bonus) def. Walt Harris: $28,000
Mara Romero Borella: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Kalindra Faria: $12,000
Beneil Dariush: $48,000 vs. Evan Dunham: $40,000
Cody Stamann: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Tom Duquesnoy: $23,000
Bobby Green: $24,000 vs. Lando Vannata: $25,000*
Poliana Botelho: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Pearl Gonzalez: $10,000
Matt Schnell: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Marco Beltran: $14,000
John Moraga: $68,000 (includes $34,000 win bonus) def. Magomed Bibulatov: $17,000
Brad Tavares: $74,000 (includes $37,000 win bonus) def. Thales Leites: $57,000
