UFC 187 salaries: Weidman, Johnson ($500,000 each) top $2.452 million payroll

Chris Weidman

Title fighters Chris Weidman and Anthony Johnson were the top earners this past weekend at UFC 187, each making a half-million dollars, but for different results.

Weidman (13-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) got paid $500,000 – $250,000 to show and a $250,000 win bonus – for his first-round stoppage of Vitor Belfort (24-11 MMA, 13-7 UFC), who made $300,000 in the losing effort. The Brazilian would have banked an additional $200,000 for a win in the middleweight title fight, which was UFC 187’s co-main event.

In the headliner, though, it was Anthony Johnson (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) who fell short of light heavyweight gold when he had to tap to a third-round choke against Daniel Cormier (15-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC). Still, “Rumble” took home a cool $500,000 for the fight. He was not scheduled to receive a win bonus. Cormier won the vacant belt, but was only the fourth highest-paid on the card. He made $180,000 – $90,000 to show and a $90,000 win bonus.

MMAjunkie today obtained the list of disclosed paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the Saturday event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The event’s other top earners included Donald Cerrone (27-6 MMA, 14-3 UFC), who made $152,000 for his second-round TKO of John Makdessi (13-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC), who made $30,000 – but suffered a broken jaw in the loss; Dong Hyun Kim (19-3-1 MMA, 10-3 UFC), who pocketed $116,000 for his win over Josh Burkman (27-11 MMA, 5-6 UFC), who made $45,000; and Joseph Benavidez (21-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who cracked the six-figure mark with $106,000 for his decision win over John Moraga (16-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) to open the main card.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $2.452 million.

The full list of payouts included:

Daniel Cormier: $180,000 (includes $90,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Johnson: $500,000

Chris Weidman: $500,000 (includes $250,000 win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $300,000

Donald Cerrone: $152,000 (includes $76,000 win bonus)
def. John Makdessi: $30,000

Andrei Arlovski: $84,000 (includes $42,000 win bonus)
def. Travis Browne: $60,000

Joseph Benavidez: $106,000 (includes $53,000 win bonus)
def. John Moraga: $28,000

John Dodson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Zach Makovsky: $19,000

Dong Hyun Kim: $116,000 (includes $58,000 win bonus)
def. Josh Burkman: $45,000

Rafael Natal: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus)
def. Uriah Hall: $14,000

Colby Covington: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Mike Pyle: $51,000

Islam Makhachev: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Leo Kuntz: $10,000

Justin Scoggins: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Josh Sampo: $13,000

Rose Namajunas and Nina Ansaroff had their fight scrapped hours before the event thanks to flu complications for Ansaroff. Because Ansaroff missed weight the day prior, she was fined 20 percent of her purse. MMAjunkie confirmed with the UFC prior to the start of Saturday’s card that Namajunas would be paid her show and win money, meaning she took home $50,000 without having to put on her gloves – plus an additional $2,000 from Ansaroff’s fine. Ansaroff was paid her show money – $8,000, which includes a $2,000 reduction for missing weight.

Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter’s income. They also do not include any other “locker room” or special discretionary bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays.

For example, as previously reported, UFC officials handed out additional $50,000 UFC 187 bonuses to Cormier, Weidman, Arlovski and Browne. Cormier and Weidman earned “Performance of the Night” bonuses, while Arlovski and Browne were given “Fight of the Night” honors.

In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

For complete coverage of UFC 187, check out the UFC Events section of the site.