How the UFC fighter pay system works
Pay varies enormously. A fighter on an entry-level contract earns a small fraction of what a pay-per-view headliner makes, so an average says little about a typical fighter.
Fighters are paid per fight. Pay depends on how well-known they are, their win-loss record and whether the fight is a main event. Top earners such as Conor McGregor and Kamaru Usman can make millions per fight. Most make far less, and many have to supplement their income with other jobs.
As of 2021, 53% of UFC athletes have earned less than $100k total in career earnings. 69% of UFC athletes have earned less than $200k total. 84% have earned less than $500k. 91% have earned less than $1 million.
UFC contract amounts
Fighters sign a contract for a set number of fights at a set amount per fight. The UFC has three tiers of pay. The lowest earns between $10,000 and $30,000 per fight, the middle tier $80,000 to $250,000, and the highest $500,000 to $3 million. New fighters start on the lowest tier, and move up after a few wins and a rise in popularity.
Both fighters get paid, based on their following and tier. The winner gets an extra prize, sometimes double their base pay. Fighters can also earn Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses. They're usually $50,000 each but can reach $200,000.
The UFC pays the Fight of the Night bonus to both fighters in that bout, plus two Performance of the Night bonuses, so four fighters get bonuses.
UFC Reebok sponsorship deal
The Reebok deal was controversial from the start. The promotion said it would raise fighter pay, but many fighters saw their earnings drop. They could no longer have other sponsors on their clothes or gear, which cost them a significant source of income.
The deal also paid fighters by how many UFC fights they'd had, not how popular they were. That left some fighters very low-paid while the superstars kept the lion's share.
Ryan Bader told Submission Radio he lost anywhere from $20,000 to $65,000 per fight after the UFC signed its exclusive apparel deal with Reebok.
In April 2021, the UFC ended its six-year relationship with Reebok. Venum took over as official apparel provider. Not everything is known about that deal, but it reportedly lasts three years and gives fighters a slight bump in pay for wearing Venum gear.
Under the Venum agreement, champions go from $40,000 to $42,000 and challengers from $30,000 to $32,000. Fighters with more than 20 UFC bouts get $21,000 instead of $20,000.
Those with 16-20 appearances get $16,000 instead of $15,000, and 11-15 appearances get $11,000 instead of $10,000. Fighters with 6 to 10 bouts get $6,000 instead of $5,000, and entry-level fighters get a $500 bump. It's still a small raise for risking your health every time you step into the octagon.
Biggest expenses for UFC fighters
Training is the biggest. Fighters pay for coaches, gym memberships and travel if they want to compete at the highest level. Taxes take a big chunk too. Fighters also have a manager, sometimes medical bills, and an expensive diet.
Some fighters also spend what they earn, showing off houses, cars and jewelry to fans, which eats into their earnings even more.
Other income for UFC fighters
Sponsorships and endorsements are usually for the better-known fighters, who have big social media followings and celebrity outside the sport. They can command high fees.
Appearances and public speaking work the same way. Georges St-Pierre has made millions from movies and TV shows, while Conor McGregor has made hundreds of thousands from public speaking.
McGregor has also made a lot from his whiskey brand Proper 12.
Top UFC fighter earners
Conor McGregor has probably brought in the most fans in recent years, and so made the most money for the UFC. His total compensation from the UFC up to 2022 was about $20,000,000, excluding pay-per-view earnings. Add pay-per-view and it goes up substantially. Despite infamously losing to Dustin Poirier in their second fight at the beginning of 2021, Conor took home $22,000,000.
The other top earners were Khabib Nurmagomedov with $14,770,000 and Alistair Overeem with $10,000,000.
How UFC pay-per-view compensation works
Fighters also make money from pay-per-view sales, depending on how many are sold. Pay-per-view points aren't part of the base salary, winning bonus or performance bonuses.
If a main-card fighter's event sells two million PPVs, they make double what they would at one million.
In the report by Hal Singer, a sample model shows fighters earning $1 for every PPV sold between 200,000 and 400,000, $2 between 400,000 and 600,000, and $2.50 for each above 600,000.
There are exceptions, and it seems to depend on Dana White's whim. Holly Holm got no pay-per-view bonus because she wasn't defending a title, even though she won it in the fight. Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz were eligible because they were UFC superstars.
The exact numbers aren't public. Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017 in a fight that sold 4.3 million PPV tickets, the second highest-selling pay-per-view fight in history.