UFC on FOX 23 Athlete Outfitting pay: Top earners all suffer losses

DENVER – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on FOX 23 event took home UFC Athlete Outfitting pay, a program that launched after the UFC’s deal with Reebok, totaling $155,000.

UFC on FOX 23 took place at Pepsi Center in Denver, and the main card aired on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Leading the way were a number of octagon veterans. Donald Cerrone (32-8 MMA, 19-5 UFC), Andrei Arlovski (25-14 MMA, 14-8 UFC) and Nate Marquardt (35-17-2 MMA, 13-10 UFC) all earned the maximum payout for making 20-plus fighting appearances in program-tracked bouts.

All three were dealt losses on the card.

The full UFC on FOX 23 UFC Athlete Outfitting payouts included:

Valentina Shevchenko: $2,500
def. Julianna Pena: $2,500

Jorge Masvidal: $15,000
def. Donald Cerrone: $20,000

Francis Ngannou: $2,500
def. Andrei Arlovski: $20,000

Jason Knight: $2,500
def. Alex Caceres: $15,000

Sam Alvey: $5,000
def. Nate Marquardt: $20,000

Raphael Assuncao: $10,000
def. Aljamain Sterling: $5,000

Li Jingliang: $5,000
def. Bobby Nash: $2,500

Jordan Johnson: $2,500
def. Luis Henrique da Silva: $2,500

Eric Spicely: $2,500
def. Alessio Di Chirico: $2,500

Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $5,000
def. Jeremy Kimball: $2,500

Alexandre Pantoja : $2,500
def. Eric Shelton: $2,500

Jason Gonzalez: $2,500
def. J.C. Cottrell: $2,500

Under the UFC Athlete Outfitting program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Reebok’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-5 bouts receive $2,500 per appearance; 6-10 bouts get $5,000; 11-15 bouts earn $10,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $15,000; and 21 bouts and more get $20,000. Additionally, champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2017 UFC-Reebok sponsorship payouts:

Year-to-date total: $280,000
2016 total: $7,138,000
2015 total: $3,185,000
Program-to-date total: $10,603,000

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 23, check out the UFC Events section of the site.