Fighter Pay - TUF 6 Finale

[Hanzy]

The following are the official REPORTED pay outs to fighters who participated on the live finale of The Ultimate Fighter 6: "Team Hughes vs. Team Serra" on Spike TV, on December 8th:

-Roger Huerta ($38,000) def. Clay Guida ($11,000)
-Mac Danzig ($16,000) def. Tommy Speer ($8,000)
-Jon Koppenhaver ($16,000) def. Jared Rollins ($8,000)
-George Sotiropoulos ($16,000) def. Billy Miles ($8,000)
-Ben Saunders ($16,000) def. Dan Barrera ($8,000)
-Troy Mandaloniz ($16,000) def. Richie Hightower ($8,000)
-Matt Arroyo ($16,000) def. John Kolosci ($8,000)
-Roman Mitichyan ($16,000) def. Dorian Price ($8,000)
-Jonathan Goulet ($14,000) def. Paul Georgieff ($8,000)

Total fighter pay out: $239,000

.........................
I thought Clay Guida would be making a little more than that by now this far into his MMA career, especially since this is his 5th fight with the UFC. I guess though he gets bonuses/endorsement pay so he should see some nice money. 16K for most of the winners. Not too bad I guess. 8K for the losers. Well.....guess you gotta start somewhere.

[TFK]

The payoffs do seem to be slowly creeping up.

And I'd say $8000-$16,000 for the curtain jerkers is pretty damn good.

One thing that UFC often does that boxing should copy is the win bonus. How many times have you seen fights where boxers just go through the motions and try to survive, because they know they're getting paid the same, win, lose or draw.

I'm not saying there aren't UFC fights where the fighters mail it in, but it happens less often, and I think the incentive to double your pay has a lot to do with it.

TFK

[Hanzy]

The payoffs do seem to be slowly creeping up.

And I'd say $8000-$16,000 for the curtain jerkers is pretty damn good.

One thing that UFC often does that boxing should copy is the win bonus. How many times have you seen fights where boxers just go through the motions and try to survive, because they know they're getting paid the same, win, lose or draw.

I'm not saying there aren't UFC fights where the fighters mail it in, but it happens less often, and I think the incentive to double your pay has a lot to do with it.

TFK

The only motivation a fighter needs, be it in MMA or Boxing, is to make more money in his next fight. A win bonus shouldn't motivate him. You have to look at the whole picture. Would I not want to win my fight so that I can get a bigger fight next time for a bigger purse?
The whole win-bonus thing is nice but it's not a big deal IMO. A true fighter is one who wants to win regardless of bonus money. So that he can negotiate more money later and maybe for a title.
And there are still a whole load of stinkers in MMA who'll bore the whole crowd by playing it safe, even if they have a chance to double their purse with a bonus pay.