WSOF 9 salaries: Champs Palhares, Moraes paydays lead $251K payroll

Newly crowned welterweight champ Rousimar Palhares (16-6) and bantamweight Marlon Moraes (13-4-1) were the top earners at Saturday’s WSOF 9 event.

MMAjunkie obtained the list of disclosed paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversaw Saturday’s NBCSN-televised event at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $251,500.

Palhares, fighting for the first time since a 2013 release from the UFC, needed just 69 seconds to dispose of Steve Carl via submission, taking his belt in the process. “Toquinho” netted $50,000 for the victory.

Meanwhile, Moraes dominated Josh Rettinghouse over the course of their five-round content, and while the Brazilian wasn’t able to pick up a finish, he did score $50,000 for the effort.

The full list of disclosed paydays included:

Champ Rousimar Palhares: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
def. Steve Carl: $20,000

Champ Marlon Moraes: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
def. Josh Rettinghouse: $4,000

Josh Burkman: $25,000 (no win bonus)
def. Tyler Stinson: $7,000

Yushin Okami: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
def. Svetlozar Savov: $4,000

Johnny Nunez: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
def. Ozzy Dugulubgov: $6,000

Mike Corey: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. Shane Kruchten: $3,000

Bryson Hansen: $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
def. Sean Cantor: $500

Chris Gruetzemacher: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
def. John Gunderson: $2,000

Brenson Hansen: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
def. Boostayre Nefarios: $1,000

Danny Davis: $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
def. Phil Dace: $1,000

Jimmy Spicuzza: $2,000 (includes $1,000 win bonus)
def. Gil Guardado: $1,000

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 that some organizations are known to pay.

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 additional coverage of WSOF 9, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Marlon Moraes and Josh Rettinghouse)