UFC fighters are not salaried employees. They are treated like contractors who have fight contracts and are paid on a per-fight basis.
Fighter pay is one of the more controversial topics in the UFC and according to a standard UFC contract, fighters aren’t allowed to divulge their pay to third parties other than their agents or advisors.
Secondly, among the UFC’s favorite states to visit every year, only California requires the disclosure of fighter pay. Most of the UFC’s events are held in Las Vegas whose commission doesn’t require the UFC to state how much fighters make during events.
Having said this, it’s really hard to determine how much exactly UFC fighters make. So whatever we write here and whatever you read elsewhere is just an estimate.
An article from BetMGM wrote that UFC fighter pay ranges from $10,000 to $3,000,000 (~AUD 15,102 to AUD 4.53 million ) depending on the fighter. Each UFC fighter has his own contract where his per-fight salary is expressly stated. The amount depends on the tier of the fighters.
Most MMA websites estimate that fighters under the lower pay grade make a mere $10,000 to $30,000 ( ~AUD 15,102 to AUD 45,307) per fight. Mid-pay grade fighters meanwhile reportedly earn around $80,000 to $250,000 per bout (~AUD 120,819 to AUD 377,560). On the other hand, UFC superstars make a handsome pay between $500,000 to $3 million ( ~AUD 755,120 to AUD 4.53 million).
Now these amounts are called the fighters’ base pay or the amount they earn if they show up to the fight. If the fighter wins, he or she will receive the equivalent of his/her show money, thus doubling the earrings.
Aside from the fighter pay, UFC combatants who are in the upper echelon also earn a share of the pay-per-view revenue. Again, like fighter pay, this amount isn’t required to be divulged but is usually computed on how many PPV buys an event makes.
UFC Fighters can also earn one of the four performance bonuses given during every event – Fight of the Night, Performance of the Night, Knockout of the Night, and Submission of the Night. The Fight of the Night bonus is given to both the winning and losing fighters. All four bonuses are worth $50,000 (~AUD 75,528).
Finally, UFC fighters also earn additional income from the UFC’s fight kit sponsor. Champions get $42,000 (~AUD 63,434) as fight week incentive pay while challengers make $32,000 (~AUD 48,331) under the same policy. Meanwhile, UFC fighters with 21 or more UFC bouts under their belt will get $21,000 ( AUD 31,717) while those who have 16-20 fights will make $16,000 (~AUD 24,165). The rest of the roster gets between $4,000 ( ~AUD 6,041) and $11000 (~AUD 16,613) depending on the number of fights under the promotion.
According to a report from Forbes.com, Conor McGregor made an estimated $33 million ( ~AUD 49.8 million) during his last bout against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. His previous bout against The Diamond six months earlier saw him earn $22 million (~AUD 33.2 million). Website mmasalaries.com says The Notorious has made $108.7 million (~AUD 164.1 million) during his UFC tenure.