Middleweight rivals Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori settled their grudge (for now) at UFC 263, and the champ and challenger were the most handsomely paid for it on paper.
Partial salaries released Monday by the Arizona Department of Gaming, which oversees the state’s athletic commission, revealed that titleholder Adesanya ($500,000) and challenger Vettori ($350,000) took home the top paydays on the 14-fight card. Adesanya emerged with a unanimous decision to defend the middleweight belt and take home a second win over Vettori, who was shut out on the scorecards.
Win bonuses for the combatants on the June 12 card initially were redacted by the department, contrary to previous fight cards held in the state. Asked about the discrepancy, a spokesperson for the department said he would look into the matter and later provided the full show and win purses.
Typically, a UFC fighter’s “show” purse is doubled in the case of a win. Headliners – particularly those who share in pay-per-view points – often take a flat show purse and receive additional pay in the form of separate agreements with the promotion and pay-per-view splits, neither of which are public record.
So, as always, these figures below do not represent a fighter’s total earnings, as certain sponsorship incomes, pay-per-view bonuses, or discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed.
Here are the full UFC 263 payouts.
Main Card (ESPN+ pay-per-view)
Israel Adesanya ($500,000 + no win bonus = $500,000) def. Marvin Vettori ($350,000)
Brandon Moreno ($100,000 + $100,000 = $200,000) def. Deiveson Figueiredo ($210,000)
Leon Edwards ($110,000 + $110,000 = $220,000) def. Nate Diaz ($250,000)
Belal Muhammad ($80,000 + $80,000 = $160,000) def. Demian Maia ($175,000)
Paul Craig ($55,000 + $55,000 = $110,000) def. Jamahal Hill ($28,000)
Preliminary Card (ESPN)
Brad Riddell ($40,000 + $40,000 = $80,000) def. Drew Dober ($87,000)
Eryk Anders ($75,000 + $75,000 = $150,000) def. Darren Stewart ($45,000)
Lauren Murphy ($70,000 + $70,000 = $140,000) def. Joanne Calderwood ($51,000)
Movsar Evloev ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) def. Hakeem Dawodu ($55,000)
