Chael Sonnen has always been one of the most entertaining personalities in the sport of MMA. Often stirring up controversy even after his retirement, Chael is a loved figure in the MMA community. However, recent evidence could potentially change that.
Recently, MMA media outlet BloodyElbow managed to scour through the ‘Internal Zuffa Bout Compensation’ list that was unsealed from the UFC lawsuit. In doing so, they were able to uncover the official payouts for some of the UFC’s biggest draws. Whilst a big chunk of fighters’ salaries and payouts were uncovered, one seemingly stood out above the rest.
Chael Sonnen’s pay against Silva, Jones, and Shogun:
$1,050,000 vs. Anderson Silva 2 — Disclosed Purse: $50,000
$1,050,000 vs. Jon Jones
$400,000 vs. Shogun Rua — Disclosed Purse: $150,000 (100K + 50K bonus) pic.twitter.com/VKH1SPxBmD
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) November 27, 2023
Here, it was expected that names like Conor McGregor and Brock Lesnar would be the top earners. However, the finding brought to light some particularly interesting finds, including some of Chael Sonnen’s biggest payouts. Thus, as per the calculations, Sonnen pocketed $1,050,000 each for his second fight against Anderson Silva, and against Jon Jones.
Additionally, the report suggests that Chael also made $400,000 for his fight against Mauricio Rua. For context, Sonnen’s disclosed pay for the Rua fight was $150,000. Similarly, it was a mere $50,000 for the second Silva fight. Further, many are confused as to why Sonnen revealed his earnings from the second Silva fight to be $8.8 million.
Why did Chael Sonnen inflate his UFC career payouts?
For the most part, Chael Sonnen has always been outspoken in his support for the UFC’s fighter pay. At the same time, UFC President Dana White has often been criticized for underpaying his fighters. However, these claims have been made off the back of disclosed payouts. According to Uncle Sonnen, these payouts can often be misleading and do not paint the full picture.
Previously, ‘The American Gangster’ made an appearance on the highly acclaimed Flagrant podcast with Andrew Schulz. It was here that he infamously revealed that he was paid $8.8 million for his second fight with Anderson Silva. Whilst the disclosed payouts and the ‘Internal Zuffa Bout Compensation’ list show otherwise, Chael previously revealed why it may have been so.
Speaking on the podcast, Chael Sonnen added, “From day one, MMA has done a great job of coming out and saying, ‘Here’s what the live gate was, and here’s what the pay-per-view was’. What they did over a period of time is they convinced the audience, without even asking, that they were in the pay-per-view and live gate business”. With that said, Sonnen further pointed out how MMA was the only sport ongoing during the pandemic.
Thus, whilst outlets previously quoted Sonnen’s career earnings as less than $2 million, the recently revealed reports suggest otherwise. With that said, Chael has largely hinted at the undisclosed sponsorships being a factor in fighter payouts. Although there is no true way to prove this, fans and experts can only take things at face value until further evidence is unveiled.