After the historic UFC 303, we are back with a smaller Fight Night. Former champion Rose Namajunas is back with a mission to climb the Flyweight rankings. But how much will she and the other big names on the card earn from this event? Here is everything we know about the UFC Denver payouts.
UFC Denver Payouts: What Will Namajunas vs Cortez Be Paid?
Rose Namajunas is one of the most successful female fighters of the past decade. She made her debut in the promotion in 2014 and went on to win the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship twice – in 2017 and again in 2021.
With most of her appearances being title bouts, she is also one of the highest-earning female fighters on the roster. Or should we say ‘was’? Rose lost her belt for the second time in 2022 and decided to move to Flyweight, which resulted in a solid reduction in her salary.
If we go back a few years to her last title charge, Namajunas made $150,000 for her first match against Zhang Weili and $110,000 for their rematch. Her salary increased significantly for her last title match against Carla Esparza and we can confirm that ‘Thug Rose’ made $500,000 as a guaranteed purse.
To date, this remains her biggest payday. But despite the weight class change, Rose remains one of the stars in the promotion and she still got paid between $225,000-250,000 for her Flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot.
There is little information about her most recent fight against Amanda Ribas from March 2024 but we have seen reports that Rose got around $150,000 as a guaranteed purse. So, how much is she going to make from the UFC Denver payouts?
Judging from the fact that Rose won the match with Ribas, we expect there to be a new increase in her salary. She is now #6 in the division and will headline this event. We expect Rose Namajunas to earn at least $225,000 at UFC Denver.
She's riding a 5 fight win streak heading into the weekend! 👊
As for her opponent, Tracy Cortez is not yet that well-known despite having five wins in a row since her UFC debut. This will be her first time headlining an event, which should result in her biggest payday too.
What we know is that Cortez got paid $85,000 when she fought at UFC 274 in 2022. There is no information about her most recent bout against Jasmine Jasudavicus but it is guaranteed that she got paid more.
When it comes to UFC Denver, we expect Tracy Cortez to get at least $125,000 as a guaranteed purse.
UFC Payouts: What the Rest of the Card Can Expect
Although there is just one other ranked fighter on this whole card, several promising prospects will also fight, as well as some well-known fighters who typically get paid well.
For example, Santiago Ponzinibbio has been in the UFC since 2013 and he had some massive paydays over the years. While he never made it to the top, we expect him to earn at least $100,000 for his appearance in the co-main event of UFC Denver.
His opponent, Muslim Salikhov, has lost three of his last four bouts but the simple fact that he will fight in the co-main will boost his salary. We can predict around $66,000 for him, which is a common purse for the UFC.
Drew Dober is celebrating his 10th year in the promotion and while he is unranked, he remains one of the most entertaining fighters on the roster. He is a fan favorite and we expect him to earn between $60,000-75,000 for this fight. His opponent, Jean Silva, is still a new name for the promotion and we do not expect more than $40,000 for him from the UFC Denver payouts.
Overall, there are several other good names on that card but we do not expect their purses to be bigger than the aforementioned above. Therefore, we will not attempt to predict their salaries with the limited information we found.
And if you are wondering whether this event is worth watching, we can guarantee that it will end up being one of the best Fight Nights since the start of the year. You do not want to miss this one!
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.
