Kongo made a 110K at UFC on VS.

Main-card fighter Cheick Kongo earned an event-high $110,000 payday, and fellow heavyweight main-card winner Junior Dos Santos earned $70,000 at UFC on Versus 1.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently requested the list of salaries from the Colorado Boxing Commission and today received it from the Colorado Department of
Regulatory Agencies.

The total disclosed payroll for the March 21 event was $713,000.

Kongo, fighting in one of four scheduled fights on the UFC's first-ever Versus-televised event, beat down and forced Paul Buentello into submission. He earned $55,000 to show and $55,000 as a win bonus for the performance. Buentello earned $40,000.

Other top earners from the card included Dos Santos ($70,000), who topped Gabriel Gonzaga ($67,000), main-event loser Brandon Vera ($60,000), and preliminary-card victors Vladimir Matyushenko ($56,000) and Clay Guida ($50,000).

The full payouts included:

Jon Jones: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus)
def. Brandon Vera: $60,000

Junior Dos Santos: $70,000 ($35,000 win bonus)
def. Gabriel Gonzaga: $67,000

Cheick Kongo: $110,000 ($55,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Buentello: $40,000

Alessio Sakara: $42,000 ($21,000 win bonus)
def. James Irvin: $20,000

Clay Guida: $50,000 ($25,000 win bonus)
def. Shannon Gugerty: $9,000

Vladimir Matyushenko: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus)
def. Eliot Marshall: $10,000

Darren Elkins: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def. Duane Ludwig: $12,000

John Howard: $26,000 ($13,000 win bonus)
def. Daniel Roberts: $6,000

Brendan Schaub: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Chase Gormley: $10,000

Mike Pierce: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
def. Julio Paulino: $6,000

Jason Brilz: $18,000 ($9,000 win bonus)
def. Eric Schafer: $13,000

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 UFC on Versus 1 bonuses. Breaking from tradition, the UFC issued its customary fight-night bonuses to three "Fight of the Night" winners (Jones, Dos Santos and Howard). Each was worth $50,000. Additionally, a $50,000 "Submission of the Night" award went to Guida, but no "Fight of the Night" bonus was given.

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.

For complete coverage of UFC on Versus 1, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.com.

No comment on Kongo making over 100K?

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

No comment on Kongo making over 100K?

Overpaid

And surprising

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

And surprising

Vera has himself a sweet deal too, 60K base pay, you can bet it would have been 100K+ if he won. Both guys must have signed their deals at the right time, when their names were hot

Totally, some of these guys make some good coin without being top names

OUSOONERSOU wrote:

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

And surprising

Vera has himself a sweet deal too, 60K base pay, you can bet it would have been 100K+ if he won. Both guys must have signed their deals at the right time, when their names were hot

I was thinking the same thing. Kongo probably signed his after he beat Cro Cop.

i completely disagree with anyone who thinks Kongo or any other fighter on the card was overpaid. For what these guys do they are very underpaid imo. Maybe if you're comparing it to what other guys on the card made i can see where you're coming from, but these guys go in there and literally put their lives on the line to entertain us so you will never hear me say a fighter is overpaid especially when these guys dont make a fraction of what big time boxers make.

oggy420 wrote:

i completely disagree with anyone who thinks Kongo or any other fighter on the card was overpaid. For what these guys do they are very underpaid imo. Maybe if you're comparing it to what other guys on the card made i can see where you're coming from, but these guys go in there and literally put their lives on the line to entertain us so you will never hear me say a fighter is overpaid especially when these guys dont make a fraction of what big time boxers make.

yeah I didn't mean overpaid in terms of how much they got, just how much they got compared to what other fighters are getting. The pay scale just isnt' where it should be. The point I was making is Vera and Kongo make more money then other fighters who should make more then them. So being overpaid compared to what the other fighters are making, I agree they all should get more $

IDK, I respect all fighters, even douche bag Mir, I'm no fighter, he at least puts it all on the line in there, but Kongo? 110K? IDK about that.

yea but then should we be getting on the fighter for getting his, or the company that is neglecting to pay the other guys what they truly deserve?

it's not like Kongo is some scrub fighter, he has alot of quality wins and people know who he is.

He's making more than a lot of better fighters, at least based on his pay for this event

oggy420 wrote:

it's not like Kongo is some scrub fighter, he has alot of quality wins and people know who he is.

yeah but IMO that number just sticks out like a sore thumb, he just doesn't deserve to be that high on the pay scale.

understandable but i think the problem is the pay scale here, not that these guys are making too much money cause i just dont think thats the case.

First off the UFC usually gives 20K to all fighters who score a victory with submission, I have heard DW say to the fighters several times on webcams. Some of you guys are complaining that they don't get paid enough for what they do? Are you fucking crazy?! These guys that are up-and-coming don't make a killing 3k/3k deals for guys who virtually no chance to be on the PPV right? But I have heard of boxers on the undercard of a major PPV getting $50.00 a round! Plus some expense money for their room and a little bit of insurance, but you want to bitch about what the UFC pays their fighters? Get a grip. If I made 40K for losing a fight, plus all the other stuff that comes with it through sponsorships, per diem, etc. I would consider myself lucky! That is more than I make in a year at the grind and I don't even like my job.

oggy420 wrote:

understandable but i think the problem is the pay scale here, not that these guys are making too much money cause i just dont think thats the case.

I agree

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

First off the UFC usually gives 20K to all fighters who score a victory with submission, I have heard DW say to the fighters several times on webcams. Some of you guys are complaining that they don't get paid enough for what they do? Are you fucking crazy?! These guys that are up-and-coming don't make a killing 3k/3k deals for guys who virtually no chance to be on the PPV right? But I have heard of boxers on the undercard of a major PPV getting $50.00 a round! Plus some expense money for their room and a little bit of insurance, but you want to bitch about what the UFC pays their fighters? Get a grip. If I made 40K for losing a fight, plus all the other stuff that comes with it through sponsorships, per diem, etc. I would consider myself lucky! That is more than I make in a year at the grind and I don't even like my job.

maybe you should become a fighter then lol

Jones got hosed on his base salary

well there is unkown factors too. The guys who are just breaking into the ufc aren't gonna make that much. Thats understandable. This is where the idea of a union kind of doesn't sound like a bad idea. A guy like Bones Jones comes to the ufc as an unknown fighter, signs a however long contract, and now that he's become a big star it just doesn't look right to see him make so little at this point. Thats why an arbitation process like what they have in baseball would be ideal, but because there is no fighters union they cant do that. But i guarantee when his deal is up and it's time to sign a new one, he's gonna be making alot more change.

I don't fully agree that Kongo is high compared to others because that 110k includes his win bonus. Had Kongo lost, Vera, JDS, Gabe, Buentello, and Matyushenko would have all pocketed more than Kongo. I think Guida should be higher, but Kongo having the third highest base pay on a card that doesn't have any big draws fighting doesn't seem too bad.

Had Buentello beaten Kongo, he'd have actually had the highest pay on the card, which to me would seem more goofy than Kongo being #1.

Kongo making headliner money means he will stay in headliner type fights against top names. He is a likely opponent for Dos Santos moving forward.

I feel bad for Irvin. He should have made 25k for turning into a cracked out shell of himself. He should not be a MW.