Kamaru Usman is widely regarded as one of the best welterweight fighters in the UFC. Because The Nigerian Nightmare is currently undefeated in the promotion and has defeated elite fighters like Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal, Gilbert Burns and many more.
The current UFC welterweight champion is rapidly turning into one of the biggest pay per view superstars in UFC, owing to his exceptional striking and grappling display in the last few years. Moving forward, let’s take a look at Usman’s fight purses over the years in UFC.
Fight Purse of Kamaru Usman vs Rafael Dos Anjos
Kamaru Usman went head to head against Rafael Dos Anjos at the Ultimate Fighters Heavy Hitters Finale in November 2018. Usman completely outclassed RDA on the ground as he landed 12 takedowns and won the fight very comfortably via unanimous decision.
After the event, the Nevada Athletic Commission released the event’s finalized salary information. According to this data, the Nigerian Nightmare earned a guaranteed base pay of $75,000 for his fight against Rafael Dos Anjos. In addition to that, he received $75,000 for his victory and a performance bonus of $50,000. In total Usman walked out with $200,000 for his fight against Dos Anjos.
Kamaru Usman’s Fight Purse against Tyron Woodley
Kamaru Usman earned a title shot against Tyron Woodley following his undefeated streak of 9 wins. There was a lot of trash talk going on during the build-up of the fight between the two fighters. However, the Nigerian Nightmare walked the talk by dominating Woodley on the ground and outstruck during the entire fight. As a result, he won the welterweight title via unanimous decision against Tyron at UFC 235.
Usman earned a guaranteed base salary of $350,000 for stepping inside the octagon to face Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title fight. However, there is no information available regarding the Nigerian fighter’s cut from PPV income and the sponsorship bonus. Therefore Usman would likely end up receiving more than $350,000 for his title win against the Chosen One.
Fight Purse of Kamaru Usman for his fight against Colby Covington
After winning the welterweight gold against Tyron Woodley, Kamaru Usman had to fight against Colby Covington for his first title defence in 2019. This fight grabbed the attention of fans across the globe due to the intense animosity involved during the build-up of the fight.
During the fight night at UFC 245, both fighters rose to the occasion and provided a brilliant show to the audience. Usman and Covington traded powerful shots and subsequently, both fighters faced severe adversity and were pushed to their limits. As a result, this five-round war had the crowd riled up during the fight.
In the end, the Nigerian Nightmare won the fight via stoppage in the fifth round to mark an absolute belter of a fight. Both Usman and Covington made $500,000 for this main event clash. The welterweight champion also received the $50,000 bonus for the ‘Fight of the Night’.
Fight Purse of Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal
Kamaru Usman had to next defend his title against former team-mate Gilbert Burns in the main event at UFC 251. However, Burns had to pull out from the title fight after suffering Covid-19. As a result, Masvidal was roped in and he accepted the fight on short notice.
During this matchup, Usman dominated Jorge Masvidal for the entire five rounds to win the contest via unanimous decision. For this fight, the Nigerian fighter earned a guaranteed $600,000 along with the sponsor payout of $40,000.
Fight Purse of Kamaru Usman against Gilbert Burns
First Gilbert Burns pulled out of the title fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 due to Covid. Then the champion decided to not headline this matchup at UFC 256 due to insufficient time to train for Burns. In the end, UFC managed to book this anticipated title clash at UFC 258.
This fight was supposed to be Usman’s most difficult test considering the fact that Gilbert Burns was on the back of six consecutive wins. However, the welterweight champion destroyed Burns by securing a TKO win in the third round of the fight. The Nigerian Nightmare silenced everyone who doubted his power with an emphatic striking masterclass.
Kamaru Usman earned a guaranteed payment of $600,000 for his title defense against Gilbert Burns. The welterweight champion also earned a substantial $400,000 from the PPV sales. Additionally, he earned $50,000 for the performance of the night and $40,000 as his sponsor payout. In total, he earned a massive $10,90,000 from his fight against his former teammate.
Kamaru Usman’s Fight Purse for the rematch against Jorge Masvidal
Following his 13th win in the welterweight division in UFC, Kamaru Usman was compared to GSP as one of the greatest welterweight fighters. However, certain sections of fight fans placed several arguments regarding this comparison.
Moreover, some people created a narrative that Masvidal would stop Usman if he gets a second shot at the title. Because he stepped in on short notice and shattered the nose of the welterweight champion. Consequently, Kamaru gave him the rematch and the two welterweights engaged in the main event of a star-studded event at UFC 261.
Usman shut all the critics by starching Jorge Masvidal in the first round of the fight to successfully defend his title for the fourth time. Kamaru Usman was the first person to knockout Masvidal in his 50 fight career. The Nigerian Nightmare who headlined the event that featured Rose Namajunas, Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weli earned a remarkable $1.5 million for this clash.
To break down Usman’s payout for the main event fight, he earned a guaranteed $750,000 to show. Further, he received $640,000 and $60,000 as PPV bonus and sponsorship payout. After the fight, he earned a performance bonus of $50,000 for knocking out Masvidal.