SUMMARY
- Detailed information about UFC's fighter pay is being released gradually due to their antitrust lawsuit.
- The share in the PPV buys of Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey were also revealed.
The anti-trust lawsuit against UFC has unveiled several classified documents to the public. Bloody Elbow recently reported on documents that revealed the full contracts of various fighters.
UFC is the biggest MMA promotion when it comes to market size. Several of its former fighters allege that the MMA promotion created a monopsony. They established dominance in the market so that they could pay their fighters less than what they would get elsewhere. In the past, UFC has been accused by Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones of low pay.
Dana White reacts to UFC antitrust lawsuit trial pic.twitter.com/Zfk9WI3OOP
— Best MMA Moments (@XcellentMMA) January 20, 2024
The goal of the fighters who have filed the antitrust lawsuit “is to recover money for all 1,200 fighters.” They also want to “force the UFC to change the way it does business.” Although the UFC will be going to trial this year for the case, UFC CEO Dana White claimed he does not think about it and it has nothing to do with him.
Several fighters’ salaries have been released in the past few months. Recently, Bloody Elbow reported the full contract details of Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, and CM Punk among others. The contracts revealed how much each fighter earned for PPV buys.
Brock Lesnar earned $2 per PPV buy over 700,000 buys only if he remained champion after UFC 100
Brock Lesnar signed a deal on July 3, 2009, when he was the UFC Heavyweight Champion. At UFC 100, his fight purse was set at $1,500,000. He received no bonus or a cut of the PPV buys.
🗓 #OnThisDay in 2009 at UFC 100 – Brock Lesnar unleashed the 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 inside the Octagon 😤
[ via @UFConThisDay ] pic.twitter.com/V49R9vH7q4
— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021
If he remained champion, which he did, he would have a purse of $1,375,000 in later fights. Also, for those fights, he would receive a pay-per-view cut of $2 per PPV buy over 700,000 buys. Bloody Elbow stated, “Other champions normally earn a PPV cut from a much lower PPV buy threshold.”
However, in the case he did not remain a champion, Lesnar’s reduced purse was set at $750,000. A win bonus of $250,000 was also set but no cut of the PPV was to be earned. Lesnar defended his title once more after UFC 100 before losing to Cain Velasquez.
Ronda Rousey received different cuts from the PPV buys in her two different contracts
Rousey’s first and final contracts were obtained by Bloody Elbow. ‘Rowdy’ who was a Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion was promoted to UFC Bantamweight Champion after she signed her first UFC contract in November 2012.
Initially, as stated by Bloody Elbow, “Her purse was at $45,000 to show, with a $45,000 win bonus. With each win, she would receive a slight pay bump of $5,000, going to $50,000/$50,000, $55,000/$55,000, $60,000/$60,000, $65,000/$65,000, and up to $70,000/$70,000 if she won every fight.”
When it came to PPV cuts, she earned “$1 for each PPV buy between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 for each PPV buy between 400,000 and 600,000, and $2.50 for each buy over 600,000 buys.”
6 years ago: Holly Holm vs Ronda Rousey pic.twitter.com/JbxlftTLmY
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) November 14, 2021
When she signed her final contract on September 10, 2015, she received a base purse of $3,000,000, with no win bonus. Her PPV cut got better than before. The report stated she received “$1 for each PPV buy between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 for each PPV buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, $3 for each buy between 600,000 and 900,000 buys, and $4 for each buy over 900,000 buys.”
However, in the case that she lost her belt and was not fighting for the title, her purse dropped to $500,000. Additionally, she would receive no win bonus and no PPV cut. Unfortunately for Rousey, she lost her first match after signing the contract – the famous Holly Holm KO. She earned over $4 million for the fight. However, she fought just once more in the UFC before leaving the promotion.