Bellator 131 salaries: Tito Ortiz's $300K tops payroll $633K event payroll

Main-event winner Tito Ortiz was the big earner at Saturday’s UFC 180 event and accounted for $300,000 of the $632,600 disclosed payroll.

Ortiz defeated fellow light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar, who earned $100,000, in the Spike TV-televised headliner at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego.

The California State Athletic Commission released the figures (via Sherdog).

Ortiz earned a flat $300,000 for his split-decision victory. Bonnar earned $100,000 and could have doubled his pay to $200,000 if he had won and picked up his “win” bonus.

Will Brooks, who defeated Michael Chandler ($25,000) in the co-main event, earned $62,000 ($31,000 of which as a win bonus) for his victory, which earned him Bellator’s undisputed lightweight title.

The full Bellator 131 payouts included:

Tito Ortiz: $300,000
def. Stephan Bonnar: $100,000

Will Brooks: $62,000 (includes $31,000 win bonus)
def. Michael Chandler: $25,000

Joe Schilling: $25,000
def. Melvin Manhoef: $10,000

Mike Richman: $30,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Nam Phan: $5,600

Muhammed Lawal: $10,000
def. Joe Vedepo: $10,000

Joao Faria: $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus)
def. Ian Butler: $1,500

A.J. Matthews: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
def. Kyle Bolt: $2,000

Jonathan Santa Maria: $4,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
def. Ron Henderson: $2,000

Andy Murad: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. Bubba Pugh: $2,000

Nicolas Garcia: $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
def. Matthew Ramirez: $2,000

Jordan Bailey: $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus)
def. Alex Higley: $1,500

Rolando Perez: $2,000
def. Mark Vorgeas: $2,000

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.

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 more on Bellator 131, including a full event recap, check out the MMA Events section of the site.