The UFC 289 salaries were not officially released, but there are ways to estimate what the top fighters walked away with.
Over the past few years, fighter pay has consistently been a hot topic in MMA, especially with the UFC. As a result, there are always questions about how much the superstars of pay-per-view fight cards made.
After UFC 289 on Saturday night, some people are wondering how much Charles Oliveira and Amanda Nunes were paid for their impressive performances. Before revealing the estimates, it should be noted once again that these are not the official payouts received by the fighters.
In the main event, Nunes defended her women’s bantamweight title against Irene Aldana before retiring. ‘The Lioness’ receives more money than others because of pay-per-view points earned by becoming a champion. The two-division world champion potentially received a $500,000 base pay, $100,000-$200,000 for a win bonus, and another few hundred thousand for PPV shares, totaling close to $1.25 million.
In the co-main event, Oliveira also likely receives PPV points for being a former world champion. ‘Do Bronx’ could have received somewhere between $350,000-$500,000 for base pay, $100,000-$200,000 for a win bonus, and potentially a few hundred thousand in PPV shares, leading to nearly $1 million.
Other top UFC 289 salaries estimates include Irene Aldana ($300,000+), Beneil Dariush ($350,000+), and Dan Ige ($150,000+ with his win bonus).
Who received a performance bonus with their UFC 289 salaries?
Three $50,000 performance bonuses were handed out to build the UFC 289 salaries, along with a Fight of the Night bonus. The first was Charles Oliveira, who secured a first-round TKO against Beneil Dariush as a betting underdog. Secondly, Mike Malott earned some extra money by submitting Adam Fugitt in the second round in front of his hometown crowd.
Last but not least, Steve Erceg walked away with a $50,000 performance bonus in his promotional debut. Erceg made a statement in the flyweight division by defeating a ranked opponent, David Dvorak, by unanimous decision.
Fight of the Night honors was awarded to Eryk Anders and Marc-Andre Barriault. After three action-packed rounds, Barriault emerged victorious by unanimous decision.
