UFC 301 Payouts: Ample Prize Money to be Earned in Rio

While the men's flyweight championship is up for grabs this weekend, the UFC 301 payouts that will be earned in Brazil offers a fair share of guaranteed prize money.

 Alexandre Pantoja has proven himself to be the world's best flyweight fighter — and his UFC fighter pay reflects that. But has his opponent Steve Erceg done enough to earn himself some noteworthy UFC payouts to this point?

That's exactly what we'll be looking at in this article. 

UFC Fighter Pay: What Will Pantoja vs Erceg Be Paid at UFC 301?

Alexandre Pantoja Payouts

In a division that has lacked a dominant champion for over half a decade, Alexandre Pantoja could be the next fighter to accrue title defenses and assert himself as an undeniable legend in MMA.

He started his defenses off in style, when he beat Brandon Royval at UFC 296 in December. But now he has a new, completely unique challenge in front of him.

It was reported that Pantoja earned a base salary of $182,000 in UFC payouts when he defeated Brandon Moreno and captured the UFC flyweight belt back in July 2023. 

Since then, however, Pantoja has made a case to earn even more money, after his one-sided win over Royval. We also expect that he earned much more UFC prize money than $182,000 at UFC 296. 

And with Pantoja now being a champion, he doesn't have to rely on solely his base salary. He will also be earning PPV points, which is a huge benefit to becoming champion. 

With that in mind, we expect Alexandre Pantoja to be earning $750,000 in UFC prize money at UFC 301 this weekend. 

Steve Erceg Payouts

The Australian Steve Erceg is an unexpected title challenger. In fact, most MMA fans didn't even know who Erceg was just one year ago.

Although that doesn't mean Erceg isn't set up for an impressive payday at UFC 301 this weekend. 

It has been reported that Erceg earned a $54,000 base salary for his victory at UFC 295 back in November 2023. While that hasn't been confirmed, that seems like a fair amount, considering where Erceg was at in his career. 

Since then, Erceg earned a stunning KO victory over Matt Schnell in March. And we expect that he earned a similar amount of money for that win as he did at UFC 295.

But we believe his new status as a title challenger has earned him a bigger UFC bonus. 

We believe that Steve Erceg will be earning $200,000 in UFC prize money for fighting Alexandre Pantoja this weekend.  

UFC Payouts: What Other Fighters Can Expect

The most notable name included on the UFC 301 card is the legend Jose Aldo. Aldo will be fighting in MMA for the first time since August 2022 — and can expect hefty UFC bonuses for doing so.

We believe that Aldo will be earning $550,00 in UFC payouts for fighting in Rio this weekend. 

Another noteworthy name is longtime UFC light heavyweight stalwart, Anthony Smith. Smith has accrued a good deal of money for his 21-fight UFC tenure. For that reason, we believe Smith will be making $250,000 in UFC prize money this weekend. 

There is money to be make at UFC 301 this weekend, for prospects and legends alike.