UFC 299 is right around the corner and the card is absolutely stacked. With such a long list of stars, the promotion will have to pay big and we are set to see the biggest payout in a while. Here is what we know about the UFC 299 payouts.
UFC Fighter Pay: What Will O’Malley vs Vera Be Paid at UFC 299?
For those that do not know, the main event will be a rematch. Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera met in 2020 at UFC 252. A lot has changed since then and we are not just referring to the fact that O’Malley won the title. Both fighters are also getting paid a lot more in purses than four years ago. For their original bout, the fighters were paid about $60,000 each. How much will they earn this time?
We should start with the champion, of course. O’Malley believes that he is a superstar and the biggest name in the promotion but when you look at his earnings, they are times below the minimum that former superstars were getting paid. We’ve written all about the purses of legendary figures like Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and others, and there is a huge gap between the numbers.
For instance, Sean O’Malley has never made more than $500,000 as a guaranteed purse and he earned that much on two occasions – against Pedro Munhos at UFC 276 and for his title match against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. Now, as the champion, we believe that he will earn at least a million as a base salary.
As for Marlon Vera, he is about to have his record payday too. The vast majority of title contenders in the past earned around $500,000 and we expect the same here. For comparison, he got paid $150,000 when he fought Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292. That’s what we predict for the UFC 299 payouts – $1 million for the champ and $500,000 for the challenger.
UFC Payouts: What the Rest of the Card Can Expect
As mentioned above, this card is absolutely stacked and a lot of people even claim that it is better than the one for UFC 300. We would argue but it is a fact that UFC 299 has an unbelievable line-up and there are a bunch of high-earners.
Dustin Poirier, for instance, has been making millions from his fights in recent years. He got paid $1,000,000 to fight Conor McGregor and then $1.5 million for their third match a few months later. He earned $500,000 for his match against Charles Oliveira, then a million against Chandler.
The UFC has not released information about his latest purse but reports claim that he got around $1.5 million again. Against Saint Denis, we do not expect his base salary to be over $500,000. As for the Frenchman, he reportedly got paid $116,000 for his latest appearance and we expect him to get an increase to around $250,000 for this fight.
Kevin Holland has been one of the most active fighters on the roster and he always gets a good check. His usual base salary is between $100,000 and $150,000 and his biggest payday was against Michael Chiesa, when he earned $178,000. His opponent this time is Michael Cage, who will make his debut in the promotion. This makes it harder to predict his purse but knowing that he earned around $100,000 for his last Bellator fight, we believe that he will earn around the same as Holland.
Gilbert Burns is another high-paid athlete who will participate on Saturday. Durinho typically earns between $150,000 and $250,000. Given that he lost his previous bout against Belal Muhammad ($200,000 guaranteed purse), we expect him to earn less this time. Back to $150,000 maybe? His opponent is Jack Della Maddalena, who has been storming through the Welterweight division since his debut. Jack earns around $150,000 per fight nowadays and we expect the same here.
Last but not least, we have to discuss the opening fight from the main card and its impact on the UFC 299 payouts. Petr Yan returns to the Octagon against Song Yadong. While his reign was shortlived, Yan has been earning well since he won the title. His purses vary between $200,000 and $500,000. With three consecutive defeats, however, we doubt that he will earn more than $200,000 as a base salary.
His opponent, Song Yadong, is likely to earn more than him despite being lesser-known. Reports suggest that the Chinese got paid at least $250,000 for his last match against Chris Gutierrez in December 2023. Given that Yan is a much bigger fight, expect him to earn at least the same or more.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
