Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano made it clear they needed to look outside the UFC to secure the kind of paydays they wanted for their MMA comebacks. On Saturday, we got our first sense of what those numbers may look like.
Following Rousey’s first-round submission over Carano atop the first MMA card ever broadcasted live on Netflix, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) released the event’s salary figures to Uncrowned. Per CSAC, Rousey earned a $2,200,000 purse for her performance, while Carano took home a $1,050,000 purse in the losing effort.
It is important to note that these commission figures often do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, especially for the sport’s bigger stars; rather, they represent only the purses contracted to appear on the commission’s publicly available salary report. Sponsorship revenue, signing bonuses, contracted incentive clauses and other off-book bonuses are not publicly disclosed by CSAC.
Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder Nakisa Bidarian told Uncrowned ahead of Saturday’s MVP MMA debut that all fighters for the event would be paid a minimum purse of $40,000 — more than UFC’s typical introductory fighter salary of $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. Unlike the UFC’s show-win pay model, Bidarian confirmed MVP’s payouts were also a flat rate for every fighter, with bonus incentives available as well.
“That’s guaranteed,” Bidarian said of the card’s unique purse structure on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “And then every fighter has a performance bonus in addition to that, which, there are different levels depending on the fighter.
“We will have a Fight of the Night [bonus]. Jake [Paul] and I need to kind of discuss it, and we’ll announce it at the right time. But every fighter does have a performance bonus incentive.”
Bidarian’s promise was indeed upheld, as seven fighters cashed $40,000 purses for their performances — the lowest salary figures across the 22-fighter card.
Notably, the four other top competitors on Saturday’s show — Nate Diaz ($500,000), Mike Perry ($400,000), former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou ($1,500,000) and Philipe Lins ($100,000) — each earned six- or seven-figure purses for their appearances.
The full Rousey vs. Carano salary rundown:
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Ronda Rousey: $2,200,000
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Gina Carano: $1,050,000
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Nate Diaz: $500,000
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Mike Perry: $400,000
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Francis Ngannou: $1,500,000
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Philipe Lins: $100,000
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Salahdine Parnasse: $70,000
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Kenny Cross: $50,000
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Junior dos Santos: $80,000
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Robelis Despaigne: $50,000
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Namo Fazil: $40,000
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Jake Babian: $40,000
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Adriano Moraes: $80,000
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Phumi Nkuta: $60,000
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Jason Jackson: $110,000
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Jeff Creighton: $50,000
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David Mgoyan: $50,000
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Albert Morales: $40,000
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Aline Pereira: $40,000
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Jade Masson-Wong: $40,000
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Chris Avila: $50,000
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Brandon Jenkins: $40,000