UFC 126 salaries

**Kemal** · 07-02-2011, 19:54

Despite his main-event loss, Vitor Belfort ($275,000) and co-main-event winner Forrest Griffin ($275,000) were the top earners at UFC 126. Both topped UFC middleweight champ and main-event winner Anderson Silva ($200,000).

MMAjunkie.com today requested and received the list of paydays from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The total payroll for the event, which took place at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas, was $1.305 million.

The event's main card card aired on pay-per-view, two preliminary-card fights aired on Spike TV, and one prelim bout streamed for free on Facebook.

Silva received no win bonus, but most of his pay likely came in pay-per-view revenue and other, non-traditional bonuses. Belfort, meanwhile, would have earned an additional $100,000 as a win bonus if he would've earned the victory.

Four fighters reached six-figure base paydays, including Jon Jones ($140,000), who earned a title shot with a victory over Ryan Bader.

The full list of paydays included:

Champ Anderson Silva: $200,000 (includes no win bonus)
def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000

Forrest Griffin: $275,000 ($150,000 win bonus)
def. Rich Franklin: $75,000

Jon Jones: $140,000 ($70,000 win bonus)
def. Ryan Bader: $20,000

Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus)
def. Carlos Eduardo Rocha: $8,000

Miguel Torres: $56,000 ($28,000 win bonus)
def. Antonio Banuelos: $9,000

Donald Cerrone: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Paul Kelly: $19,000

Chad Mendes: $19,000 ($9,000 win bonus)
def. Michihiro Omigawa: $8,000

Demetrious Johnson: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Norifumi Yamamoto: $15,000

Paul Taylor: $36,000 ($18,000 win bonus)
def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000

Kyle Kingsbury: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Ricardo Romero: $10,000

Mike Pierce: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Kenny Robertson: $6,000

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 the UFC oftentimes pays. They also do not include portions of the pay-per-view revenue that some top-level fighters receive.

For example, as previously reported, UFC officials handed out additional $75,000 UFC 126 bonuses to Silva (KO of the Night), Jones (Submission of the Night), and Cerrone and Kelly (Fight of the Night).

In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

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