UFC 261 was a huge success. The event marked the return of fans for the first time since UFC 248 in what was an exciting night of fights. There were some shocking results and much unfortunate news. There were emotions of all kinds. When everything was said and done, looking back at it, UFC 261 will go down as one of the most dramatic UFC PPV of all time. Needless to say, a lot of fans must be excited to know how much each fighter made for their performance. While the figures are surprising for some fighters, they also reflect that UFC is capable of giving big cheques to their fighters, but only sometimes.
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According to a news website Sporting Free, Masvidal pocketed around $500,000, while Kamaru Usman took home a whopping $750,000. However, these numbers are not official as recent reports suggested that Florida won’t be disclosing fighter pay at UFC’s request after the promotion deemed it as “trade secret.”
Needless to say, getting a peek at a fighter’s salary is going to get more difficult with time with the UFC doing everything in its hands to keep that information away from the fans. Recently, UFC president Dana White has found himself amid huge criticism regarding lower pay to fighters. Many fighters have raised their voice in the past including Jorge Masvidal who shared his thoughts on the PPV points system ahead of UFC 261.
Recently, YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul also shared his thoughts on fighter’s pay and accused Dana White of treating the fighter unequally as compared to boxers. Additionally, former light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been advocating for better pay for quite some time now.
UFC 261 salaries: Here’s how much Jorge Masvidal earned
Jorge Masvidal said in the lead-up to the fight that he is being paid well and credited his decision to renegotiate his contract after the Nate Diaz bout back at UFC 244. According to sports website Sportekz, Masvidal pocketed around $800,000 which also includes a “PPV bonus.”
Meanwhile, Kamaru Usman took home $1.5 million after the adjusted PPV bonus, the amount also included the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus award. While the figures are not official, they reflect the amount that could be very close to their actual pay-out. However, only after PPV numbers are out would we get an actual figure of how much both the fighters must have pocketed from their main-event at UFC 261.
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