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MMA

05th Apr 2016

Disgracefully low WSOF 30 payouts really puts UFC salaries into perspective

Ben Kiely

Abubakar Nurmagomedov is on a lot less money than his UFC star brother.

Last week, World Series of Fighting held two title fights on their WSOF 30 card, with David Branch successfully defending his middleweight title in the headliner, while Jon Fitch claimed the vacant 170 lb belt in the co-main event.

MMAJunkie have acquired the fighter salaries for the event which ranged from $130,000 to a measly $500. The total disclosed payroll for the event was $294,000.

Unsurprisingly, Branch, who scored a dominant unanimous-decision win over Clifford Starks, was the biggest earning banking $65,000 to show and another $65,000 for the win. Starks earned just $15,000 for his title shot.

Lower down the card is where it starts to get concerning. In the opening fight between Zach Bunnell and Jeff Roman,  both fighters were on $500 to show and $500 to win. Admittedly, this doesn’t take into account the fighters’ sponsors, but considering it was Bunnell’s first professional fight and Roman is 1-3-1, it’s doubtful that either fighter is getting that much income from sponsors.

In comparison, the lowest paid fighter on UFC 196 was Julian Erosa, who took home $12,000 for his loss to Teruto Isihara.

The full WSOF 30 payouts included:

David Branch: $130,000 (includes $65,000 win bonus)
def. Clifford Starks: $15,000

Jon Fitch: $70,000 (includes $35,000 win bonus)
def. Joao Zeferino: $15,000

Vinny Magalhaes: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
def. Jake Heun: $10,000

Abu Azaitar: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
def. Danny Davis Jr.: $3,000

Abubakar Nurmagomedov: $7,000 (includes $3,500 win bonus)
def. Matthew Frincu: $4,000

Rex Harris: $3,000 (includes $1,500 win bonus)
def. Clinton Williams: $4,000

Steve Kozola: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Church: $1,000

Adam Acquaviva: $4,200 (includes $2,000 win bonus)*
def. Andres Ponce: $800*

Zach Bunnell: $1,000 (includes $500 win bonus)
def. Jeff Roman: $500

* Ponce gave up 20& ($200) of his show money to Acquaviva after he failed to make weight