In recent years the UFC has worked hard to keep more and more of their event finances under wraps. They’ve convinced state governments to exempt their pay data from public records laws, making what were once commonly reported payouts much much rarer to come by.
However, through a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Bloody Elbow has been able to get the guaranteed salary payouts for UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2. Unlike most state reported UFC salary numbers, these records only included fighters’ guaranteed ‘show’ money—although, at least in the case of most of the fighters on the card, win bonuses of equal value can likely be assumed.
Israel Adesanya topped the list with a base salary of $500,000, with Marvin Vettori coming up in second place at $350,000. Nate Diaz was the night’s other big earner, at $250,000, with Deiveson Figueiredo the only other fighter guaranteed to break $200k on the night.
As always, concerning UFC salary reports, the data below does not include any sponsor payments, locker room bonuses, side letter agreements between fighters and the UFC, coaching fees, taxes, or other possible financial transactions. These numbers are purely reflective of fighters’ base contracts with the promotion.
Here are the complete, officially released, UFC 263 salary numbers:
Isreal Adesanya – $500,000
Marvin Vettori – $350,000
Brandon Moreno – $100,000* + $50,000 PotN bonus
Deiveson Figueiredo – $210,000
Leon Edwards – $110,000*
Nate Diaz – $250,000
Belal Muhammad – $80,000*
Demian Maia – $175,000
Paul Craig – $55,000* + $50,000 PotN bonus
Jamahal Hill – $28,000
Brad Riddell – $40,000* + $50,000 FOTN bonus
Drew Dober – $87,000 + $50,000 FOTN bonus
Eryk Anders – $75,000*
Darren Stewart – $45,000
Lauren Murphy – $70,000*
Joanne Calderwood – $51,000
Movsar Evloev – $36,000*
Hakeem Dawodu – $55,000
Pannie Kianzad – $28,000*
Alexis Davis – $43,000
Terrance McKinney – $12,000*
Matt Frevola – $23,000
Steven Peterson – $23,000*
Chase Hooper – $37,000
Fares Ziam – $14,000*
Luigi Vendramini – $15,000
Carlos Felipe – $25,000*
Jake Collier – $28,000
On the more speculative side of things, Bloody Elbow’s John Nash notes that – as champions – both Israel Adesanya and Deiveson Figueiredo should make something in the neighborhood of $600,000 in PPV points for the event. And it’s very likely that Diaz and Adesanya have ‘side letter’ deals with the UFC possibly worth $750k-$1mil in Diaz’s case, and $1.75mil in the case of Adesanya. Those numbers are in no way official, merely best guesses, given past disclosed information for fighters of similar stature taking part in similar events.
*Note: Although not officially disclosed, these fighters almost certainly received a ‘win bonus’ equal to their show money, as well as the amount officially released by the Arizona commission.