Tony Ferguson cashes half-million payday for interim title fight win at UFC 216
Tony Ferguson walked away from UFC 216 as the new interim lightweight champion while also cashing a $500,000 paycheck for his win over Kevin Lee on Saturday night.
Ferguson made $250,000 to show and an additional $250,000 to win as he claimed his first UFC title with a third round submission victory, which also notched his 10th win in a row overall.
The salary figures come courtesy of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
For his part, Lee took home $250,000, which still made him one of the highest paid athletes on the UFC 216 fight card.
Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson earned $370,000 for his win over Ray Borg, which served as a record breaking performance for the flyweight champion as he picked up his 11th consecutive title defense. The previous record was held by Anderson Silva with 10 consecutive defenses.
Meanwhile, a late injury to Derrick Lewis forced several changes to the UFC 216 card, which is also reflected in the salaries.
Walt Harris stepped up from the preliminary card to face Lewis’ original opponent Fabricio Werdum, which then left Mark Godbeer without a fight. The good news for Godbeer is that the UFC paid him his show and win money at $30,000 despite not performing on Saturday night.
As for Lewis, he was not paid after falling off the card and that’s the same for Will Brooks and Nik Lentz, who had their fight cancelled ahead of the weigh-ins on Friday. Lentz was not medically cleared to fight, which forced him off the card and the commission didn’t pay him or Brooks based on the official salaries.
Here’s the full list of payouts for UFC 216: Ferguson vs. Lee.
Tony Ferguson: $500,000 ($250,000 to show, $250,000 to win)
Kevin Lee: $250,000
Demetrious Johnson: $420,000 ($370,000 flat fee plus $50,000 for ‘Performance of the Night’)
Ray Borg: $100,000
Fabricio Werdum: $400,000 ($275,000 to show, $125,000 to win)
Walt Harris: $28,000
Mara Romelo Borella: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Kalindra Faria: $12,000
Beneil Dariush: $48,000
Evan Dunham: $40,000
Cody Stamann: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Tom Duquesnoy: $23,000
Lando Vanatta: $75,000 ($25,000 to show, $50,000 for ‘Fight of the Night’)
Bobby Green: $74,000 ($24,000 to show, $50,000 for ‘Fight of the Night’)
Poliana Botelho: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Pearl Gonzalez: $10,000
John Moraga: $118,000 ($34,000 to show, $34,000 to win plus $50,000 for ‘Performance of the Night’)
Magomed Bibulatov: $17,000
Brad Tavares: $74,000 ($37,000 to show, $37,000 to win)
Thales Leites: $57,000
Matt Schnell: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Marco Beltran: $14,000
Mark Godbeer: $30,000 (paid after his original opponent was pulled to compete in another fight).
Derrick Lewis, Nik Lentz and Will Brooks were not paid by the commission.
