Nate Diaz
Heavyweights pocket 57 percent of card’s payroll
Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar earned the lion’s share of the distributed purses at UFC 141 on Friday. The salaries were released Tuesday to HeavyMMA.com by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Lesnar took home the pay-per-view’s biggest official check, earning $400,000 for his main event loss to Overeem, who earned $385,714.28 in the victory. Overeem was making his UFC debut and scored a first-round TKO after a kick to Lesnar’s liver.
Lesnar’s $400,000 was a flat pay day without a win bonus attached and is the same amount he made in his previous three UFC fights against Frank Mir and Shane Carwin – successful UFC heavyweight title defenses – and Cain Velasquez, in which he lost the belt at UFC 121 in October 2010. Lesnar announced his retirement after the loss to Overeem.
For his co-main event win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Nate Diaz earned $74,000, including a $37,000 win bonus. Cerrone made $30,000 in the loss.
The night’s other biggest earners on the year-end card, with a disclosed total payout of $1,369,714.28, included Jon Fitch, who made $60,000 for his 12-second loss to Johny Hendricks, who pocketed $52,000; and Dong Hyun Kim, who made $82,000 for his decision win over Sean Pierson on the preliminary card.
Additionally, even though they were unable to fight because Matthew Riddle was ill before their bout, both Riddle and Luis Ramos were reportedly given their show and win bonuses. Riddle’s $30,000 and Ramos’ $12,000 are not a part of the official pay schedule for the card since the fight did not take place.
The complete list of salaries is below:
Alistair Overeem $385,714.28 (inc. $121,428.57 win bonus) def. Brock Lesnar ($400,000)
Nate Diaz $74,000 (inc. $37,000 win bonus) def. Donald Cerrone ($30,000)
Johny Hendricks $52,000 (inc. $26,000 win bonus) def. Jon Fitch ($60,000)
Alexander Gustafsson $32,000 (inc. $16,000 win bonus) def. Vladimir Matyushenko ($40,000)
Jimy Hettes $16,000 (inc. $8,000 win bonus) def. Nam Phan ($8,000)
Ross Pearson $40,000 (inc. $20,000 win bonus) def. Junior Assuncao ($8,000)
Danny Castillo $38,000 (inc. $19,000 win bonus) def. Anthony Njokuani ($12,000)
Dong Hyun Kim $82,000 (inc. $41,000 win bonus) def. Sean Pierson ($8,000)
Jacob Volkmann $32,000 (inc. $16,000 win bonus) def. Efrain Escudero ($10,000)
Diego Nunes $24,000 (inc. $12,000 win bonus) def. Manny Gamburyan ($18,000)
Luis Ramos $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus)*
Matthew Riddle $30,000 (inc. $15,000 win bonus)*
*Ramos and Riddle did not fight, as scheduled, because, according to a UFC official, Riddle “fell ill” before the fight. MMA Junkie reported Saturday both fighters received their show and win money.