UFC 196 Fighter Salaries

Nate Diaz Close Up gangster

The official UFC 196 salaries list has been released and shows that even in defeat Conor McGregor was the biggest earner on the night, taking home a record breaking $1,000,000 basic salary.

However, McGregor is also due a cut of the pay-per-view revenue from Saturday night’s event in Las Vegas, and in a pre-fight interview with CNBC, ‘The Notorious’ had boasted that he would “breeze past the $10 million” mark overall.

Also enjoying a bumper payday on the night was the victorious Nate Diaz who scored $500,000 for one of the biggest upsets in UFC history after taking the fight on just 11 days notice. Given that Diaz’s previously disclosed salary was just $40,000 back in December, that’s a good nights work!

Also earning $500,000 on the night was Holly Holm despite having lost to Miesha Tate who became the new woman’s bantamweight champion after a fifth round submission. Tate earned $92,000 for her win, but with more big fights on the horizon she may now hope to negotiate a more lucrative deal.

Back on the six-figure scale, UFC veteran Diego Sanchez earned an impressive $150,000 as he outpointed another long-serving fighter Jim Miller who trousered $59,000.

Interestingly, Darren Elkins was one of the best paid undercard fighters, collecting a $74,000 cheque for his 14th fight in the UFC.

Check out all the fighter salaries for Saturday night’s UFC 196 event below and keep in mind that these figures are only for the competitors basic salaries and do not include other income such as post-fight bonuses, sponsorship and PPV revenue.

Nate Diaz: $500,000
Conor McGregor: $1,000,000

Miesha Tate: $92,000 (includes $46,000 win bonus)
Holly Holm: $500,000

Ilir Latifi: $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
Gian Villante: $36,000

Corey Anderson: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Tom Lawlor: $28,000

Amanda Nunes: $56,000 (includes $28,000)
Valentina Shevchenko: $14,000

Siyar Bahadurzada: $38,000 (includes $19,000 win bonus)
Brandon Thatch: $22,000

Nordine Taleb: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
Erick Silva: $34,000

Vitor Miranda: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Marcelo Guimaraes: $13,000

Darren Elkins: $74,000 ($37,000 win bonus)
Chas Skelly: $21,000

Diego Sanchez: $150,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus)
Jim Miller: $59,000

Jason Saggo: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Justin Salas: $16,000

Teruto Ishihara: $34,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus)
Julian Erosa: $12,000

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.