Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Jon Jones UFC payouts: Know all about recently REVEALED lawsuit documents

Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Jon Jones have the biggest payouts in the UFC. Jones is the arguable GOAT of MMA, let alone the UFC. Rousey spearheaded the entry of women into the UFC. She was the face of women’s MMA and has had a successful career outside the UFC with WWE.

Conor McGregor had one of the best runs in the UFC that catapulted him to global superstardom. The recent lawsuit filed against the UFC has shed light on the fight purse of the top earners of the UFC till 2017. Bloody Elbow was the first to report about the fight purses.

McGregor began his career as an amateur boxer followed by a successful MMA career with the Cage Warriors where he was a simultaneous double champion. Rousey is an Olympic Judoka who won the Bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Jones, a collegiate wrestler dropped out of college to focus on MMA and it was one of the best decisions he made.

McGregor became a double champion in the UFC, and Rousey still holds the record for most title defenses in the women’s bantamweight champion. Jon Jones is the current heavyweight champion of the UFC who also held the light heavyweight championship.

Fight purses of Conor McGregor till 2017

Conor McGregor is the sport’s biggest superstar. At times, it even looked like McGregor was bigger than the UFC. ‘The Notorious’ broke numerous PPV records for the UFC. He headlined numerous PPVs even when there wasn’t a title on the line. One of the reasons for Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s popularity is his infamous rivalry with McGregor. As such, McGregor is still the highest-paid athlete in UFC history.

McGregor first headlined a PPV at UFC 189 against Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight championship. It remains the only PPV that did not cross the 1 million mark. It did 825,000 PPV buys. McGregor made a staggering $3,285,000 for the fight. This includes a $2.11M discretionary bonus.

His next fight was for the undisputed title against Jose Aldo at UFC 194. He would knock out Aldo in 13 seconds earning a $4,536,932 purse. This would be the last time McGregor competed at featherweight as he would later vacate the title without a single title defense.

Becoming the undisputed champion increased his star power. He was presumed to face Rafael Dos Anjos for the undisputed lightweight title. However, Dos Anjos pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Nate Diaz in a welterweight fight at UFC 196. Diaz would submit McGregor giving the Irishman his first loss in the UFC.

McGregor won the rematch at UFC 202. He earned more than $11 million for the fights with Diaz. He then defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight title at UFC 205. His purse for the event was $6,812,374.

Fight Purses of Ronda Rousey till 2017

Ronda Rousey became the UFC champion after the UFC bought Strikeforce where she was the women’s bantamweight champion. As such, her fist fight in the UFC against Liz Carmouche was her first title defense. She would submit Carmouche in the first round via armbar earning $574,720 in fight purse.

Her second defense was against Miesha Tate. It was the first fight Rousey would see the second and third rounds. She finished Tate via armbar making all her 8 fight victories via armbar. Her purse for the event was $1,817,907.

Rousey’s next four fights would total 2 minutes and 10 seconds as she would finish her opponents in under a round. Her fight against Sara McCann lasted a minute and six seconds. However, her fights against Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano, and Bethe Correira lasted just 16, 14, and 34 seconds respectively.

The McCann fight earned her $870,969 in purse which would be the last time she gets a purse less than $1 million. Her fight purse would increase fight by fight as she earned $1,063,688, $1,458,282, and $2,642,204 against Davis, Zingano, and Correia respectively.

Ronda Rousey suffered her first loss in professional MMA against Holly Holm at UFC 193. Holm won via second-round TKO. However, the fight in Australia would rack up a fight purse of $4,536,932 for Rousey.

Rousey fought for the last time against Amanda Nunes in an unsuccessful attempt to regain the title at UFC 207. Her fight purse as a challenger was a staggering $4,879,766.

Fight Purses of Jon Jones till 2017

Even though Jon Jones is the GOAT of MMA, his popularity did not rise above that of Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor. Till 2017, none of his headlining PPV events had garnered more than a million PPV buys. His biggest PPV was his rematch with Daniel Cormier at UFC 214. That would also be the fight where he earned the biggest payday which is $3,637,500.

Jones’ next biggest payday was against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159 where he earned $2,750,000. His fights with Rashad Evans and Ovince St. Preux are the only fights where he earned more than $2 million in fight purse. He would earn $2,278,553 and $2,677,530 as a fight purse for Evans and St. Preux respectively.

His other big fight purses of more than $1 million were against Vitor Belfort, Alexander Gustafsson, and Glover Teixeira. He earned $1,566,196, $1,173,560, and $1,237,880 for the aforementioned fights, respectively.

In case you missed it!

• Kamaru Usman Net Worth 2023, UFC Salary and Endorsements
• Khamzat Chimaev Net Worth 2023, Fighting Career, and Personal Life

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW