# Fighter financials



## Atras (Sep 12, 2011)

I work in corporate finance, and I'm curious to understand how and how much fighters earn.

I've seen the bonuses which frankly don't look too impressive. Nick Diaz earned 200k, which is of course a significant amount of money. But on the other end of the spectrum Matt Mitrione got a piddling 10k.

These fighters fight 1-3 times a year, and they have to pay for housing and living, but also for training which can't be cheap considering the top guys have a manager, 1-5 trainers/coaches, as many training partners, and it looks like many march around with an army of yes-men, and some even bring an entourage.

200k once or twice a year doesn't sound like it would make _anyone _wealthy in that environment, let alone for those who are not in the top 5 of their division.

I cringed when Jon Bones bought that fancy car of his; if he's earning this little, he's buying it on credit, and that'll go down south quickly if he gets beaten (discussion for another thread).

So who pays for their training camps and partners and how? Does the camp and/or training partners take a % of winnings, and how much, or do the fighters pay out of their pocket per hour or per camp?

What other sources of income do these guys have? I'm guessing sponsorship deals are getting more important, especially with Fox being on board offering much more attractive proposition for advertisers.


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

Atras said:


> I work in corporate finance, and I'm curious to understand how and how much fighters earn.
> 
> I've seen the bonuses which frankly don't look too impressive. Nick Diaz earned 200k, which is of course a significant amount of money. But on the other end of the spectrum Matt Mitrione got a piddling 10k.
> 
> ...


First off this probably belongs in the General MMA section. 

Simply put most fighters can not make a living off this sport long term. Some still work 9-5 like Carwin or have side ventures opening their own gyms, acting in movies or have their own clothing lines (Tito, Hendo, Randy.) Sponsorship supplements their income. The more wins you have the higher profile fights you get and thus the sponsorship $'s increase.

This ranges depending on caliber of fighter. You can be like old school Crocop and train out of your own garage. 

Agent - 5%
Management - 5% - 15%
Training facility rental.
Training partners.
Training equipment.
Food + supplements.
Accomodations for training partners.
Medical treatment. *
Tax *

After everything is said in done I'd imagine 30% - 50% of the fighters' purse goes to expenses.

Quick breakdown.

Millionaires
Anderson Silva
GSP
Brock
Tito

Six Figures on up
Frankie Edgar
Jose Aldo 
Machida
Bisping

$100k or less
Most mid tiered fighters or ones on their way down.

$50k or less
Up and comers, gate keepers, journeyman, or aging fighters.

Like any sport or business it's based on performance. Prime example is Fedor. He was commanding over a million (Affliction/UFC offered $5 million apparently) for a fight which would be a record in MMA terms. After being undefeated for 10 YEARS he's now lost three in a row and has been cut. Which means ZERO income. Now he's fighting Jeff Monson. How crazy is that!

To summarize if you look at the fighters above they were ALL broke at one point in their careers and trained their ASSES off to get to where they are today. Now they earn the big bucks. So when people say oh he's afraid of this fighter or that...I usually shake my head. 

Hope this gives you a little insight on the finances. We can probably break it down on a micro level, but that would take more time out of my day...haha.


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## beardsleybob (Jan 3, 2010)

People seem to forget that members of good teams assist each other in training. They pay their team fees and it's all available to them. Then there's the unsolicited payments fighters might get backstage. Sponsorships add up to a huge amount, more so than their purse most of the time. Then as been mentioned the gyms that fighters themselves own. There's good profit to be made from them. Most competitors are sponsored by supplement companies and so get as much as they need.

This is all idealistic though, and newbies like Mitrione don't have the advantage of being accomplished enough to be comfortably earning yet


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

I havent read any of this thread, other than the first few lines of the first post. I know for a fact it will be the same old 'fighters dont get paid enough' bullshit.

I'll say it again, NOBODY FORCES THEM TO FIGHT FOR A LIVING!!!


EDIT: Ok, so i read a bit more. Fighters get money from 3 or in some cases 4 places:

Fight show money
Win or other bonuses
a cut of the PPV
Sponsors


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## Intermission (Oct 1, 2009)

Not to mention that sponsors basically are way more then their show money.


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## joshua7789 (Apr 25, 2009)

Does anyone have any stats or facts for how much money guys are generally making off of sponsorship money? The only thing Ive ever heard specifically was that James Irvin was supposed to have been paid 50k for wearing warrior wear shorts when he fough Silva, and I never actually saw anything concrete on that number.


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## Intermission (Oct 1, 2009)

joshua7789 said:


> Does anyone have any stats or facts for how much money guys are generally making off of sponsorship money? The only thing Ive ever heard specifically was that James Irvin was supposed to have been paid 50k for wearing warrior wear shorts when he fough Silva, and I never actually saw anything concrete on that number.


I can give you personal numbers for what I have experienced running a brand. 

KO Reps wanted $5000 for a product photoshoot with a fighter, my options were Johnathan Brookins or Anthony Njokouani, two lower lesser known fighters.


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## edlavis88 (Jul 12, 2009)

I always ccringe at these threads. I can't stand the attitude that fighters/sportsmen have a devine right to be making millions upon millions every year.

The fact is these guys do something they love for a living and even the guys on the prelims are making more than the US average income for doing it.


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## Intermission (Oct 1, 2009)

edlavis88 said:


> I always ccringe at these threads. I can't stand the attitude that fighters/sportsmen have a devine right to be making millions upon millions every year.
> 
> The fact is these guys do something they love for a living and even the guys on the prelims are making more than the US average income for doing it.


It is because people are use to seeing HUGE numbers from other athletes. I always wished that athletes made like max $200,000 a year but hey, what do I know.


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## Atras (Sep 12, 2011)

edlavis88 said:


> I always ccringe at these threads. I can't stand the attitude that fighters/sportsmen have a devine right to be making millions upon millions every year.
> 
> The fact is these guys do something they love for a living and even the guys on the prelims are making more than the US average income for doing it.


Where exactly did I even imply anything like that? I just want to understand the business side of MMA out of professional curiosity.


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## John8204 (May 13, 2010)

Atras said:


> Where exactly did I even imply anything like that? I just want to understand the business side of MMA out of professional curiosity.


Sponsorship money is the big factor for fighters

If you get a walk out with your T-shirt that's between 10-30K

And then your shorts each have different pay scale

Butt - 3-15 K
Right leg - 1-8 K
Left leg - 1-8 K

Hat's and Drink's also vary

3 years ago Joe Lauzon was making 8 grand to show 8 to win and 52 thousand from sponsorships, and this was for a TV Fight Night.

What we know of fighters are the downside of their contracts but the upside, Dana once said every person that main events a PPV brings home at-least a Million Dollars in sponserships, PPV percentages, locker room bonuses.


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## hadoq (Jan 6, 2011)

you guys tend to forget that, in order to get to the point where you get paid (not even much, just paid), fighters usually have to work for years, make huge sacrifices in their lives, take huge bets (it's anything but a sure business) take risks that most of us are not willing to take, put everything in jeopardy so *maybe, maybe not* they can get in the UFC which, as far as I understand, is

1. the only organisation where you can make a living out of fighting
2. the best fighting organisation in the world, probably by quite a bit

who would, right now, leave everything, start training for years without getting paid for fighting, just for a very small percent of chance to get paid from fighting one distant day in the future.

how many get hurt in training and just can't go on, after 1, 2, 3 years of sacrifice, you get hurt, maybe you'll walk funny for the rest of your life, without any qualification and poor professional experience.

so no, they don't get paid too much, because for years, they didn't get paid at all and they were never sure they'd ever get paid.


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## astrallite (Mar 14, 2010)

I think the real problem with the UFC is their insistence on exclusive contracts.

Some people say, yeah sure, mid-low tier UFC fighters don't much less than say, the lowest paid guy on a boxing card, but those guys aren't forced to fighting with that boxing promotion exclusively (it's illegal under boxing legislation). 

With an exclusive contract you are stuck fighting as little or as often as the UFC wants. Which means you don't have much of a career in MMA if it doesn't fit the UFC's schedule, and you make $4k or $6k when they decide they need you.


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

astrallite said:


> I think the real problem with the UFC is their insistence on exclusive contracts.
> 
> Some people say, yeah sure, mid-low tier UFC fighters don't much less than say, the lowest paid guy on a boxing card, but those guys aren't forced to fighting with that boxing promotion exclusively (it's illegal under boxing legislation).
> 
> With an exclusive contract you are stuck fighting as little or as often as the UFC wants. Which means you don't have much of a career in MMA if it doesn't fit the UFC's schedule, and you make $4k or $6k when they decide they need you.


And i'll say it again for the 2nd time in this thread, NOBODY IS FORCING THEM TO FIGHT FOR A LIVING!!!!!

Also, for those that do fight for a living, nobody is forcing them to sign with the UFC. why do fighters want to fight in the UFC? cos that is where they will get paid the most. 

making out that an undercard fighter only makes 4-6k is rediculous, come on man, wake up, they probably make that for the cap they wear just walking to the octagon!!


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## edlavis88 (Jul 12, 2009)

I remember last year when Matt Mitrione fought Beltran on the TV prelims for an event and fired his agent for only getting $10K sponsorship. So that says a lot about how much fighters usually get. If $10K for fighting on a prelim is enough to fire your agent then most fighters must be making some nice bank.


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## GoodfellaGr (Aug 16, 2011)

edlavis88 said:


> I always ccringe at these threads. I can't stand the attitude that fighters/sportsmen have a devine right to be making millions upon millions every year.
> 
> The fact is these guys do something they love for a living and even the guys on the prelims are making more than the US average income for doing it.





Intermission said:


> It is because people are use to seeing HUGE numbers from other athletes. I always wished that athletes made like max $200,000 a year but hey, what do I know.


First of all, athletes are employees and should be paid as every employee regarding much profit brings to the business or how important is for the business. From that angle, MMA fighters are not paid SHIT! why? Cause Zuffa is a monopoly actually. And that's unfair. 

Also, edlavis nobody talks about millions in the MMA field! But even if we were talking about millions, there is nothing wrong about that! As i said they bring money.. so they are paid for this. Why is wrong for athletes to gain millions and it's not bad for Dana White and Zuffa?

What most people don't understand is the risk that these people take. Most of them train for this all their lives and have at best 10 years of career at high level. They have also injuries and doctors. Every moment a career can end cause of a bad moment in a sparring match. This risk must be paid!


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## Killz (Oct 5, 2009)

GoodfellaGr said:


> First of all, athletes are employees and should be paid as every employee regarding much profit brings to the business or how important is for the business. From that angle, MMA fighters are not paid SHIT! why? Cause Zuffa is a monopoly actually. And that's unfair.
> 
> Also, edlavis nobody talks about millions in the MMA field! But even if we were talking about millions, there is nothing wrong about that! As i said they bring money.. so they are paid for this. Why is wrong for athletes to gain millions and it's not bad for Dana White and Zuffa?
> 
> *What most people don't understand is the risk that these people take. Most of them train for this all their lives* and have at best 10 years of career at high level. They have also injuries and doctors. Every moment a career can end cause of a bad moment in a sparring match. This risk must be paid!


WOW!... I'm pretty sure even the dumbest of MMA fans understands this. Further more, fighters understand this when they 'Choose' to fight for a living. (note they key word there, choose).

Dont get me wrong, I agree fighters should be paid well but it's threads like these that really get on my nerves when in reality nobody has any idea of the true amount of money a fighter earns per fight.

:sarcastic07:


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## astrallite (Mar 14, 2010)

Killstarz said:


> And i'll say it again for the 2nd time in this thread, NOBODY IS FORCING THEM TO FIGHT FOR A LIVING!!!!!


I'm just saying, some guys might have second thoughts if they sign a UFC contract and only get a call once a year and get $6k, whereas they could bounce between promotions, fight more, and get more money overall.

You are right, nobody forced them to sign with the UFC, but 1) not everybody reads the fine print on the bottom of a 20 page contract, and 2) this is illegal under boxing legislation and it will only be so long before the Feds put the cuffs on Zuffa.


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## Spec0688 (Sep 9, 2007)

This is why we will continue to see top athletes overlook MMA when they are guaranteed big money in any of the other major sports. Until the salary is better for starting fighter, you won't see physically gifted people having MMA at the top of their list, unless its really their passion. 

I don't like how they force fighters to fight only with the UFC and it should only really be on the contract for champions.

Being a late round draft pick in the NFL, you're still making anywhere between 300,000 - 500,000. Don't make the team and stuck on practice squad? still getting paid minimum $5,200 a week and could be more depending on position, and value to team. Thats a pretty good deal still because the only real difference is that you don't play in the games, you get to eat team meals, workout, see best doctors and whatnot. 

My point is that even though you may not be the best in the sport, the practice squad deal is still better then starting out in the UFC and making 5,000 - 8,000 a fight.


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## DanTheJu (Mar 3, 2007)

Okay, with the research I have done (and I have been doing it for years on this topic) here are some the avenues I have found for a fighter to get paid for fighting:

- Fight Purse
- Fight Purse Win Bonus
- FOTN/SOTN/KOOTN Bonuses
- Sponsorship
- PPV Cut (Not everybody enjoys this)
- Signing Bonuses (Not everybody enjoys this)
- Performance Bonuses (Locker room and contractual)

- There are rumors that Zuffa pays some guys in other ways but I have never seen verification of this. 

Now here is something a lot of people don't know. 

Most athletic commissions require a MMA promotion to buy a bond that covers the entire purse in advance of any event. This was put in place to guarantee that the participants are paid. This ties up a significant amount of capital for the promoters.

SO, a smart business move is to only pay a percentage of a fighters pay in the actual purse and pay the rest in a salary/bonus structure. Now this probably does not apply to many of the newer fighters but I am sure it does to those who have a name.

When you look at promotions like Affliction and look at what they were paying their fighters it seemed like they were paying their fighters much more than Zuffa. The thing many didnt consider is that Affliction did not have a track record of paying their fighters out side of the purse so many of the fighters requested that all their pay be in the purse so that it is protected by the bond the promoter had to buy.



GoodfellaGr said:


> First of all, athletes are employees and should be paid as every employee regarding much profit brings to the business or how important is for the business. From that angle, MMA fighters are not paid SHIT! why? Cause Zuffa is a monopoly actually. And that's unfair.


Are you saying that all fighters should be paid the same? If that is what you are suggesting that is absolutely crazy! The top fighters SHOULD get paid better than new fighters! It gives a new fighter incentive to become a top fighter!

Zuffa is NOT a monopoly actually. There is currently an MMA promotion that will be airing on Spike as soon as the Zuffa deal is over that its ownership has over a billion cash in reserve! They are competition. While they are not good competition yet, they are competition!


> Also, edlavis nobody talks about millions in the MMA field! But even if we were talking about millions, there is nothing wrong about that! As i said they bring money.. so they are paid for this. Why is wrong for athletes to gain millions and it's not bad for Dana White and Zuffa?


Dana White and the Frattitas SHOULD be making good money. They built the UFC and pretty much took MMA from a barbaric sport to being on the cusp of main stream!



> What most people don't understand is the risk that these people take. Most of them train for this all their lives and have at best 10 years of career at high level. They have also injuries and doctors. Every moment a career can end cause of a bad moment in a sparring match. This risk must be paid!


As said above.... WHO DOESNT understand that MMA comes with risks?



astrallite said:


> You are right, nobody forced them to sign with the UFC, but 1) not everybody reads the fine print on the bottom of a 20 page contract, and 2) this is illegal under boxing legislation and it will only be so long before the Feds put the cuffs on Zuffa.


First... Anybody who does not read a contract that they sign for employment deserves what ever hardships come their way!

That is illegal under boxing because boxing has a long history of screwing the fighters over! Zuffa does not have that history.

I do not foresee the UFC having any Anti-trust issues, in fact if anything I can see them getting an Anti-trust exemption, much like NFL, NBA, MLB and so on...


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## astrallite (Mar 14, 2010)

DanTheJu said:


> First... Anybody who does not read a contract that they sign for employment deserves what ever hardships come their way!


Just out of curiosity, do you work for a cell phone provider?


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## DanTheJu (Mar 3, 2007)

astrallite said:


> Just out of curiosity, do you work for a cell phone provider?


No, I own a TV production company. Every day I sign contracts, and EVERY one of them are read from front to back. Not reading what you sign can lead to bad things, but the fault is only your own!


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## No_Mercy (Oct 17, 2006)

DanTheJu said:


> No, I own a TV production company. Every day I sign contracts, and EVERY one of them are read from front to back. Not reading what you sign can lead to bad things, but the fault is only your own!


Yep it is important to read the fine lines. Good thing the UFC isn't like the WWE where they own you (name, merchandise) for the rest of your life. 

BTW: I have a question if you guys are rigging and setting up and one of your staff injures himself. Who's liability is it. The venue, promoter, or your production company.


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## Atras (Sep 12, 2011)

Thanks for the insightful answers, just keep ignoring those ones who want to turn this into a pissing contest.

I'm glad to hear there are other major sources of income for fighters, not just their purse. I just hope they have proper financial support so they can plan for retirement, or the more or less inevitable injuries. As a sidenote on that front, recently UFC made the unprecedented move to insure all their fighters, which is a win-win for everyone involved.

What are locker room bonuses?

I've also heard that there are penalties paid for not making weight (Thiago Alves in the past, I think he made weight only after 2nd try today), and disciplinary fines (Daley, I'm sure others) to state commissions. Are these based on percentage from earnings from that particular fight, or are they fixed? I'm curious as a fixed sum would make it _very _easy or _very _expensive depending on how much one is earning compared to everyone else.


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## SideWays222 (Sep 9, 2008)

Iv never seen any solid numbers on what people make from Sponsors. Can anyone show me some type of information on how much a avereage fighter takes home from Sponsorship?? Cause i remember mitrione publicly announced he made like 7k from his sponsors??? (Not 100% if that was the number.) granted that is when he fired his manager BUT it still cant be that much higher. I think you guys are seriously overestimating sponsorship money. I cant see a main card fighter making more then 15-20k from sponsors. A main event fighter might make something like 50k.

I could be 100% wrong as i have not much info to back my claim up either. But i do want to see some information that would say otherwise. It would help me get educated on this subject.





Atras said:


> Thanks for the insightful answers, just keep ignoring those ones who want to turn this into a pissing contest.
> 
> I'm glad to hear there are other major sources of income for fighters, not just their purse. I just hope they have proper financial support so they can plan for retirement, or the more or less inevitable injuries. As a sidenote on that front, recently UFC made the unprecedented move to insure all their fighters, which is a win-win for everyone involved.
> 
> ...


I think its 20% of the fighter who missed weight purse goes to the other fighter if weight isnt made.


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## Intermission (Oct 1, 2009)

SideWays222 said:


> Iv never seen any solid numbers on what people make from Sponsors. Can anyone show me some type of information on how much a avereage fighter takes home from Sponsorship?? Cause i remember mitrione publicly announced he made like 7k from his sponsors??? (Not 100% if that was the number.) granted that is when he fired his manager BUT it still cant be that much higher. I think you guys are seriously overestimating sponsorship money. I cant see a main card fighter making more then 15-20k from sponsors. A main event fighter might make something like 50k.
> 
> I could be 100% wrong as i have not much info to back my claim up either. But i do want to see some information that would say otherwise. It would help me get educated on this subject.
> 
> ...



No your way off! Matt Mitrione made 10k on the prelims and FIRED his manager because that's so low. A main event fighter makes easily 100k.


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## astrallite (Mar 14, 2010)

Matt Mitrione fired his agent Malki on TV during UFC 119 after he made it clear $5k in sponsorship money was unacceptable for a main card slot.

Sponsorship money like any money you earn in this country--based on your ability to sell yourself to potential employers. Even in corporate america, salary for same job can vary substantially.

I know two guys at MIS at work, one makes 70k, the other makes 120k...they do the same exact job. How well can you negotiate? Make sure you find a good agent/manager.


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## SideWays222 (Sep 9, 2008)

Intermission said:


> No your way off! Matt Mitrione made 10k on the prelims and FIRED his manager because that's so low. A main event fighter makes easily 100k.





astrallite said:


> Matt Mitrione fired his agent Malki on TV during UFC 119 after he made it clear $5k in sponsorship money was unacceptable for a main card slot.
> 
> Sponsorship money like any money you earn in this country--based on your ability to sell yourself to potential employers. Even in corporate america, salary for same job can vary substantially.
> 
> I know two guys at MIS at work, one makes 70k, the other makes 120k...they do the same exact job. How well can you negotiate? Make sure you find a good agent/manager.




I say 7k you guys say 5 and 10. None of that is way off.... 7k or 10k its not much of a difference.

I gotta go to work but we shall talk when i get back.

Post some links to some proof on what they make off sponsors. 

Im here to get educated... if im wrong then good atleast im going to learn and grow. But im trying to get educated by proof and not peoples opinion.


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## Intermission (Oct 1, 2009)

SideWays222 said:


> I say 7k you guys say 5 and 10. None of that is way off.... 7k or 10k its not much of a difference.
> 
> I gotta go to work but we shall talk when i get back.
> 
> ...


This isn't "peoples oppinion" I am a brand owner, I talk to management companies everyday. I haven't found cheaper than $600 to sponsor a unknown pro fighter. Nevermind a UFC fighter.


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## Budhisten (Apr 11, 2010)

*Bonus info: *According to Dana White there are 40+ US dollar millionaires among the UFC fighters (UFC 138 post-fight press conference)


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## DanTheJu (Mar 3, 2007)

No_Mercy said:


> Yep it is important to read the fine lines. Good thing the UFC isn't like the WWE where they own you (name, merchandise) for the rest of your life.
> 
> BTW: I have a question if you guys are rigging and setting up and one of your staff injures himself. Who's liability is it. The venue, promoter, or your production company.


That all depends on the contract. If my production company was hired by a promoter to set up an event we would negotiate the insurance and liability and build it into the contract, but about 99% of the time it is my production companies insurance that would cover it. It is VERY rare that the venue has any liability unless it is a gross malfunction of the venues equipment (IE a beam rated to hold a certain ton-age fails at far less than it is rated).

Now a company like Zuffa, they are not only the promoter but also the production company, so they are basically a one stop shop for all things MMA, and they are VERY good at the TV end of things.


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## SideWays222 (Sep 9, 2008)

Intermission said:


> This isn't "peoples oppinion" I am a brand owner, I talk to management companies everyday. I haven't found cheaper than $600 to sponsor a unknown pro fighter. Nevermind a UFC fighter.


Intermission. Dont take this personal cause its not.

I still have not to see one person post a link about the sponsor situation. Your a brand owner and im a astronaut. See how that works??? I dont think you are lying btw but im not going to take your word as fact.
Im not saying you are wrong because i very well admitted i am not that educated on the subject and i could very well be wrong. but without there being some type of hard proof for me to read then i cant take your post as anything more then a opinion. Il give you the benifit of the doubt that its a educated opinion but even if thats the case i still doubt you deal with even 20% of the UFC fighters and even then you prolly deal possibly with what percentage of their sponsors?? 
So i hope you can see why im a bit skeptical. 




Budhisten said:


> *Bonus info: *According to Dana White there are 40+ US dollar millionaires among the UFC fighters (UFC 138 post-fight press conference)


Dana White says alot of thing. I also know that Keith Jardine when he beat Chuck Liddel he said he spent more money training then he made from the win. And Keith Jardine wasnt exactly a junior either.


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## DanTheJu (Mar 3, 2007)

Jardine got paid $14,000.00 for that fight in purse alone (who knows if he made anything else from Zuffa) and he had multiple sponsors so he probably made a minimum of $20-$25,000.00 most likley more because the sponsor money when fighting Chuck should have been pretty good.

Now if a guys is spending more than $25,000.00 on a training camp for a fight that he knows how much he is going to make and knows it is less than $25,000.00 he is making some HUGE mistakes somewhere!

I train quite a bit and I dont spend anywhere near $1000.00 in 3 months (a typical camp). I know I am not a greg jackson MMA, but it cant be that expensive for just training!

The most plausible situation is he was unhappy with his contract (that he signed coming out of TUF as a loser) that was not paying him much and was trying to put himself in a better bargaining seat! And in all 4 of his final losses in the UFC before he was cut he made 55k (could have made 110k if he won). So it seems the negotiations worked!


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