Biggest UFC Fight Purses Ever: Top 10 Disclosed Paydays Ranked
The biggest UFC purse ever disclosed is $3 million, paid to Conor McGregor three times and Ronda Rousey once, with McGregor's UFC 246 bonus pushing his official total to $3.05 million.
The biggest UFC purse ever disclosed by a state athletic commission is $3 million, and Conor McGregor has collected it three times: against Nate Diaz at UFC 202, against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, and against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246, where a $50,000 bonus pushed his official total to $3.05 million. Ronda Rousey matched the $3 million mark at UFC 207. Brock Lesnar's $2.5 million at UFC 200 is the biggest purse for anyone not named McGregor or Rousey.
Two things to understand before the list. A disclosed purse is the show money plus any win bonus a commission released to the public. It leaves out pay-per-view points, locker room bonuses and sponsorship pay, which is why McGregor's real UFC 229 night was estimated around $50 million while the official line read $3 million. Second, these records are frozen. Nevada stopped publishing payouts in 2020 after Senate Bill 29, Florida followed by calling purses a trade secret, and New York, New Jersey and Texas never disclosed. UFC 246 was the last big Nevada report.
So if you are wondering why Jon Jones, Alex Pereira or Islam Makhachev are not here, that is why. Their real purses are not public. Everything below came from a commission, and I name the commission on every entry.
- Biggest disclosed purse
- $3,050,000, Conor McGregor, UFC 246 (Nevada)
- First $3M purse
- McGregor vs Diaz, UFC 202, Aug 2016
- Biggest for a woman
- $3,000,000, Ronda Rousey, UFC 207
- Biggest non-McGregor/Rousey
- $2,500,000, Brock Lesnar, UFC 200
- Last Nevada disclosure
- UFC 246, January 2020
10Anderson Silva: $800,000 at UFC 183
January 31, 2015, MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. Silva came back from the broken leg and beat Nick Diaz by unanimous decision in one of the strangest main events ever, Diaz lying on the canvas and taunting, Silva staring back.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $600,000 to show and a $200,000 win bonus for Silva, $800,000 total. Diaz took $500,000 flat. Tyron Woodley made $139,000 on the undercard, and Kelvin Gastelum made $21,000.
Both men later failed drug tests tied to the event, which is the part everyone remembers. The checks cleared anyway.
09Daniel Cormier: $1,000,000 at UFC 214
July 29, 2017, Honda Center, Anaheim. Jones knocked Cormier out with a head kick in the third round to retake the light heavyweight title. The result was later wiped to a no contest after Jones' drug test came back positive.
The California State Athletic Commission disclosed $1 million for Cormier with no win bonus. Jones, the winner on the night, was reported at $500,000, and Tyron Woodley made $500,000 to defend the welterweight belt against Demian Maia. Cris Cyborg got $200,000.
DC lost the fight, lost the belt for about a month and still out-earned the champion two to one on paper. His manager earned his cut that week.
08Conor McGregor: $1,000,000 at UFC 196
March 5, 2016, MGM Grand Garden Arena. McGregor moved up to welterweight on 11 days' notice, hit Diaz with everything, gassed, got busted up and tapped to a rear naked choke in the second round. Stockton stood up.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $1 million to show for McGregor, the first seven-figure show purse in UFC history, with no win bonus. Diaz earned $500,000. Holly Holm made $500,000 and Miesha Tate, who choked her out for the bantamweight title, made $46,000 plus a $46,000 win bonus.
Those last two numbers tell you more about UFC pay than any press conference ever will.
07Nate Diaz: $2,000,000 at UFC 202
August 20, 2016, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. The rematch went five rounds and McGregor won a majority decision, 48-47, 48-47 and 47-47. Diaz took the fourth round, both men were a mess, and it was the Fight of the Year.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $2 million for Diaz, four times what he got for the first fight five months earlier. That is what one submission win over the biggest star in the sport does to your leverage.
Diaz has fought twice in the UFC since 2016 and reportedly got far more than this each time, but Nevada stopped publishing, so $2 million stays his official high.
06Khabib Nurmagomedov: $2,000,000 at UFC 229
October 6, 2018, T-Mobile Arena. Khabib mauled McGregor for three rounds and finished him with a neck crank at 3:03 of the fourth, then jumped the cage and started the brawl everyone has seen a hundred times.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $2 million for Khabib with no win bonus, a million less than the challenger he beat. The commission also held his purse while it investigated the brawl. Tony Ferguson made $150,000 on the same card, Anthony Pettis $290,000 with his win bonus.
The champion made less than the guy he submitted. The UFC pays for pay-per-view buys, not belts, and nobody should pretend otherwise.
05Brock Lesnar: $2,500,000 at UFC 200
July 9, 2016, T-Mobile Arena. Lesnar came back from WWE on a few weeks' notice and beat Mark Hunt by unanimous decision. The result was later overturned after Lesnar failed a USADA test.
The Nevada Athletic Commission disclosed $2.5 million for Lesnar, a record at the time. Hunt made $700,000, Anderson Silva $600,000, and Daniel Cormier, Miesha Tate and Jose Aldo each got $500,000. Amanda Nunes made $100,000 for winning the bantamweight belt from Tate in the main event.
Lesnar had not fought in nearly five years. He out-earned every full-time fighter on the biggest card the UFC had ever made. That is the Lesnar business model, and it still works.
04Conor McGregor: $3,000,000 at UFC 202
Same night as entry seven, same T-Mobile Arena card, August 20, 2016. McGregor won the rematch by majority decision and did it with a busted-up leg from all of Diaz's kicks, a detail he only talked about afterward.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $3 million flat for McGregor, no win bonus. It was the first $3 million purse in MMA history and the main event's combined $5 million was a record too. He had tripled his own record from UFC 196 in five months.
The real number, with pay-per-view points, was a multiple of this. But as an official figure it has never been beaten, only tied.
03Ronda Rousey: $3,000,000 at UFC 207
December 30, 2016, T-Mobile Arena. Rousey's comeback lasted 48 seconds. Amanda Nunes landed everything she threw and Herb Dean waved it off with Rousey still on her feet, barely.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $3 million for Rousey with no win bonus, tying McGregor's record. Nunes, the champion who won, got $100,000 to show and $100,000 to win. Cody Garbrandt made $200,000 for taking the bantamweight title from Dominick Cruz.
Thirty times the purse of the woman who beat her. Rousey never fought again, so this stands as the highest disclosed purse ever for a woman in MMA, by a mile.
02Conor McGregor: $3,000,000 at UFC 229
October 6, 2018, T-Mobile Arena. McGregor came back from the Mayweather fight and two years away, lost nearly every minute to Khabib, and tapped in the fourth.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $3 million for McGregor, no win bonus. CBS Sports projected his total take around $50 million once pay-per-view points, merchandise and Reebok money were counted, with the event estimated at 3 to 3.5 million buys. The UFC later called it the biggest pay-per-view in company history.
This is the gap in one fight. The official purse was $3 million. The reality was a figure most champions will never see over a whole career.
01Conor McGregor: $3,050,000 at UFC 246
January 18, 2020, T-Mobile Arena. McGregor shoulder-struck Cerrone in the clinch, kicked him in the face and finished him in 40 seconds. It was the cleanest night of his career since the Aldo knockout.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $3 million flat, no win bonus, plus a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, which makes $3.05 million the biggest official UFC payout ever recorded. Cerrone made $200,000. Holly Holm got $50,000 to show and $100,000 to win, and Anthony Pettis $155,000.
It is number one on a technicality and on timing. Nevada went dark on payouts later that year, so unless another state starts talking, this record may never be officially broken. McGregor's purses since then, for Poirier at UFC 257 and 264, were never published by any commission.
The disclosed purse list is a museum piece, and that is the problem. Nevada stopped talking in 2020, so the official record is stuck on a 2016 to 2020 window when McGregor and Rousey were the only fighters who could move seven figures on paper. Everyone who followed them, Jones, Pereira, Makhachev, Topuria, fights behind a curtain, and the UFC likes it that way. What the list does show is the real pecking order. Champions like Khabib and Nunes got out-earned by the challengers they beat because the company pays for buys, not belts. Now the pay-per-view is gone under Paramount and the points that made McGregor's $3 million into $50 million are being replaced by flat fees nobody will disclose either. My bet is the $3.05 million record stands for another decade, not because nobody earns more, but because nobody will ever have to say so.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK.
What is the highest UFC purse ever disclosed?
Conor McGregor's $3 million flat purse plus a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus at UFC 246 on January 18, 2020, for a total of $3.05 million disclosed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. McGregor also earned $3 million at UFC 202 and UFC 229, and Ronda Rousey matched the $3 million figure at UFC 207 in December 2016.
Why are there no recent UFC purses on the list?
Nevada stopped publishing fighter payouts in 2020 after Senate Bill 29, and Florida began treating purses as a promoter's trade secret in 2021. New York, New Jersey, Texas and Illinois never disclosed. Some states like California and Washington still release figures, but the UFC's biggest pay-per-view headliners rarely fight there, so purses for Jon Jones, Alex Pereira and Islam Makhachev's biggest fights are not public.
How much did Conor McGregor really make at UFC 229?
The disclosed purse was $3 million, but CBS Sports projected McGregor's full take at around $50 million once his pay-per-view share, merchandise and Reebok sponsorship pay were included, with the event estimated at 3 to 3.5 million buys. Disclosed purses only cover show and win money, not PPV points or discretionary bonuses.
How much did Khabib make for fighting McGregor?
The Nevada State Athletic Commission disclosed $2 million for Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, with no win bonus, a million less than McGregor despite Khabib being the champion and winning by submission. Nevada temporarily held his purse while it investigated the post-fight brawl. His pay-per-view share was never made public.
What was Brock Lesnar's biggest UFC purse?
Lesnar was disclosed at $2.5 million for beating Mark Hunt by unanimous decision at UFC 200 on July 9, 2016, a record at the time and still the biggest official purse for anyone other than McGregor or Rousey. The result was later overturned to a no contest after Lesnar failed a USADA drug test. Hunt was paid $700,000.
- LowKick MMA: UFC 246 final salaries
- LowKick MMA: UFC 229 salaries
- CBS Sports: UFC 229 fight purses
- CBS Sports: UFC 207 salaries, Rousey purse 30 times Nunes
- Bloody Elbow: UFC 202 salaries
- Sherdog: UFC 200 salaries, Lesnar record $2.5 million
- Sherdog: UFC 214 salaries
- Bloody Elbow: UFC 196 salaries, first $1 million show purse
- LowKick MMA: UFC 183 salaries
- Bloody Elbow: Florida won't disclose fighter payouts
Figures in this piece come from the sources above; purses, deals and net worth totals are estimates unless a commission or the fighter disclosed them. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
