Last night, in the main event of UFC 214, Daniel Cormier attempted to defend the UFC light heavyweight title opposite Jon Jones, his fiercest rival and the only man he’s lost to. Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way Cormier planned, as he was smashed with a third-round head-kick and polished off by a swarm of ground punches.
Though Daniel Cormier can no longer lay claim to the UFC light heavyweight title, he will return home with a sizeable check. According to a report from MMAFighting.com, the former champ pocketed a whopping $1 million for his losing effort to Jon Jones. With this impressive payday, Cormier joins Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey as one of just five fighters to earn a million dollars or more for a single fight. Jones, meanwhile, earned a disclosed payday of $500,000. Like Cormier, it’s possible that he will receive a share of the PPV revenue.
In the co-main event, Tyron Woodley picked up $500,000 for his defeat of Demian Maia. Maia, meanwhile, pocketed $110,000, which he would had doubled if he had won.
In the first of UFC 214’s three title fights, new UFC women’s bantamweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino picked up a payday of $200,000. Evinger, meanwhile, made $100,000, and would have earned another $100,000 had she upset Cyborg.
Earlier on the card, Robbie Lawler picked up $300,000 for his decision defeat of Donald Cerrone ($200,000 t0 show, $100,000 to win). Cowboy, on the other hand, earned $155,000.
In the first fight of the main card, finally, Volkan Oezdemir earned $110,000 for his blitzkrieg KO of Jimi Manuwa ($80,000 to show, $30,000 to win). Manuwa, meanwhile, earned $120,000, and could have doubled that with a win.
Are you surprised that Daniel Cormier earned such a significant payday in his knockout loss to Jon Jones? Join the conversation in the comments section!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/30/2017.