On Saturday (November 19), MMA fans were treated to a rare double-header from the UFC, as the promotion hosted cards in both Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Between the two cards, we saw a whopping 50 fighters compete across 25 fights.
At the moment, fighter purses for these two exciting events are not known. We do, however, know how much each fighter received for wearing Reebok as part of the UFC’s oft-criticized Athlete Outfitting program.
Under the UFC’s deal with Reebok, payment is determined by the number of fights a fighter has had in the UFC, and in the Zuffa-eras of Strikeforce (April 2011 and after) and WEC (January 2007 and after). Champions receive $40,000 regardless of their experience in these promotions, while title challengers receive $30,000.
Because the UFC’s two Saturday cards were populated by so many inexperienced up-and-comers, many competitors received the minimum payment amount of $2,500 – 29 of them, to be exact. It’s also worth noting that MMA legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira received just $5,000 for wearing Reebok in Sao Paulo.
The biggest earners on the two cards were Ross Pearson, who took home $20,000 for wearing Reebok in his tight decision defeat to Stevie Ray, and Ryan Bader, Thales Leites and Manny Gamburyan, all of whom received $15,000.
Here’s a full rundown of the Reebok payout for the two cards (figures via MMAJunkie.com).
UFC Belfast Athlete Outfitting Pay:
Gegard Mousasi: $10,000
def. Uriah Hall: $10,000
Stevie Ray: $2,500
def. Ross Pearson: $20,000
Alexander Volkov: $2,500
def. Timothy Johnson: $2,500
Artem Lobov: $2,500
def. Teruto Ishihara: $2,500
Jack Marshman: $2,500
def. Magnus Cedenblad: $5,000
Kyoji Horiguchi: $5,000
def. Ali Bagautinov: $5,000
Kevin Lee: $5,000
def. Magomed Mustafaev: $2,500
Amanda Cooper: $2,500
def. Anna Elmose: $2,500
Justin Ledet: $2,500
def. Mark Godbeer: $2,500
Zak Cummings: $5,000
def. Alexander Yakovlev: $5,000
Marion Reneau: $2,500
def. Milana Dudieva: $2,500
Brett Johns: $2,500
def. Kwan Ho Kwak: $2,500
Abdul Razak Alhassan: $2,500
def. Charlie Ward: $2,500
UFC Sao Paulo Athlete Outfitting Pay:
Ryan Bader: $15,000
def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $5,000
Thomas Almeida: $5,000
def. Albert Morales: $2,500
Claudia Gadelha: $2,500
def. Cortney Casey: $2,500
Krzysztof Jotko: $5,000
def. Thales Leites: $15,000
Kamaru Usman: $2,500
def. Warlley Alves: $5,000
Sergio Moraes: $5,000
def. Zak Ottow: $2,500
Cezar Ferreira: $5,000
def. Jack Hermansson: $2,500
Gadzhimurad Antigulov: $2,500
def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima: $2,500
Johnny Eduardo: $2,500
def. Manny Gamburyan: $15,000
Luis Henrique: $2,500
def. Christian Colombo: $2,500
Pedro Munhoz: $5,000
def. Justin Scoggins: $5,000
Francimar Barroso: $5,000
def. Darren Stewart: $2,500
What do you think of the Reebok figures for these two cards? Sound off, PENN Nation!