Main-card winner Joseph Benavidez and headliner Donald Cerrone were the top earners at this past weekend's "WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff" event.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and obtained the official disclosed salaries from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The total disclosed payroll for the Dec. 19 event, which took place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and aired on Versus, was $162,000.
Cerrone, who earned $24,000 (half of which was a win bonus) submitted Ratcliff in a wild lightweight headliner in which the perennial contender was twice deducted points for infractions. Benavidez scored a quick knockout of Rani Yahya to earn an event-high $25,000.
The full list of paydays included:
Donald Cerrone: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus)
def. Ed Ratcliff: $9,000
Anthony Njokuani: $8,000 ($4,000 win bonus)
def. Chris Horodecki: $12,000
Joseph Benavidez: $25,000 ($12,500 win bonus)
def. Rani Yahya: $9,000
Scott Jorgensen: $14,000 ($7,000 win bonus)
def. Takeya Mizugaki: $8,000
Bart Palaszewski: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Pettis: $3,000
Zach Micklewright: $4,000 ($2,000 win bonus)
def. Muhsin Corbbrey: $4,000
Chad George: $5,000 ($2,000 win bonus)
def. John Hosman: $3,000
Brandon Visher: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus)
def. Courtney Buck: $3,000
Brad Pickett: $6,000 ($3,000 win bonus)
def. Kyle Dietz: $3,000
Erik Koch: $4,000 ($2,000 win bonus)
def. Jameel Massouh: $3,000
Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker room" or special bonuses that are not disclosed by the organization.
They also do not include the WEC's traditional "fight night" bonuses.
In other words, the above salary figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.
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