UFC 281 (on November 12, 2022) is a highly anticipated pay-per-view card featuring two title fights. In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya takes on the most feared striker in the world in Alex Pereira. Izzy has been near perfect in the UFC with his lone loss coming from Jan Blachowicz when he tried to move up a weight class to capture a second belt. Adesanya is currently riding a 3-fight win streak with victories over Jared Cannonier, Robert Whittaker and Marvin Vettori. After making his name as a world champion kickboxer, Pereira has blitzed up the UFC ranks in just one year. In his last fight, he knocked out perennial contender Sean Strickland. In the co-main event, wrestler Carla Esparza looks to defend her title against the powerhouse former champion Zhang Weili from China. In the other featured main card bout, Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier takes on Michael Chandler in a high stakes lightweight bout.
Update: In a stunning 5th round, Alex Pereira captured the belt by knocking out defending champion Israel Adesanya. It was the third time that Adesanya has lost to “Poatan” – twice in kickboxing and now in MMA. Adesanya looked to tire out Pereira but the Brazilian’s power proved to be too much. Adesanya was reacting to every single one of Pereira’s punches. In the co-main event, Zhang Weili recaptured her belt from Carla Esparza by trapping her in a crucifix and transitioning to a rear naked choke. Weili was too powerful on her feet for the American Esparza and she outscrambled Esparza once it hit the mat. The Fight of the Night went to Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirier for their slobberknocker of a fight that ended with Poirier submitting Chandler after an amazing back and forth battle.
Assumptions:
Assuming Adesanya and Esparza are getting PPV points since they are champs (standard UFC policy)
Assuming Poirier is getting points based on his drawing power
Assuming Adesanya, Poirier, Chandler and Frankie Edgar are getting paid flat salaries with no potential win bonus.
Solely for the purposes of salary estimation, assuming 600,000 buys based on the star power of this card. This is a best guess based on previously disclosed PPV numbers.
*Note that the official payouts have not been disclosed for this fight card in New York so the salaries listed are based on estimates of previous contracts, trends, and drawing power. Other assumptions are made like expected contract changes. All promotional compliance pay figures are based on the formula negotiated with Venum.
Total Payout for UFC 281: $9,103,100 (estimated)
Venum (Sponsorship) Fighter payout: $331,500
Performance Bonus money paid out: $200,000 (Weili, “Poatan”, Chandler, Poirier)
UFC 281 Detailed Payouts
Fighter | Opponent | Date | Event | Result | Base Salary | Win Bonus | PPV Buys | PPV Payout (est) | Performance Bonus | Sponsorship | Total | Comments | Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alex Pereira | Israel Adesanya | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $300,000 | $300,000 | $50,000 | $32,000 | $682,000 | Contender | 5 | |||||
Israel Adesanya | Alex Pereira | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $2,000,000 | $0 | 600,000 | $600,000 | $42,000 | $2,642,000 | Champion | 12 | ||||
Dustin Poirier | Michael Chandler | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $1,000,000 | $0 | 600,000 | $600,000 | $50,000 | $21,000 | $1,671,000 | 27 | 18 | |||
Michael Chandler | Dustin Poirier | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $500,000 | $0 | $50,000 | $4,500 | $554,500 | 5 | 39 | |||||
Dominick Reyes | Ryan Spann | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $114,400 | $0 | $6,000 | $120,400 | Recieved 20% from Spann | 10 | 45 | |||||
Renato Moicano | Brad Riddell | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $60,000 | $60,000 | $11,000 | $131,000 | 14 | 47 | ||||||
Dan Hooker | Claudio Puelles | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $160,000 | $160,000 | $16,000 | $336,000 | 19 | 56 | ||||||
Frankie Edgar | Chris Gutierrez | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $250,000 | $0 | $21,000 | $271,000 | 30 | 75 | ||||||
Carla Esparza | Zhang Weili | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $250,000 | $0 | 600,000 | $600,000 | $42,000 | $892,000 | Champion | Unranked | ||||
Zhang Weili | Carla Esparza | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $200,000 | $200,000 | $50,000 | $32,000 | $482,000 | Contender | Unranked | |||||
Chris Gutierrez | Frankie Edgar | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $60,000 | $60,000 | $6,000 | $126,000 | 9 | Unranked | ||||||
Claudio Puelles | Dan Hooker | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $50,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $56,000 | 6 | Unranked | ||||||
Brad Riddell | Renato Moicano | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $72,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $78,000 | 7 | Unranked | ||||||
Ryan Spann | Dominick Reyes | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $57,600 | $57,600 | $6,000 | $121,200 | Spann missed weight | 9 | Unranked | |||||
Molly McCann | Erin Blanchfield | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $60,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $66,000 | 8 | Unranked | ||||||
Erin Blanchfield | Molly McCann | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $30,000 | $30,000 | $4,000 | $64,000 | 3 | Unranked | ||||||
Andre Petroski | Wellington Turman | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $30,000 | $30,000 | $4,000 | $64,000 | 3 | Unranked | ||||||
Wellington Turman | Andre Petroski | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $40,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $46,000 | 7 | Unranked | ||||||
Matt Frevola | Ottman Azaitar | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $50,000 | $50,000 | $6,000 | $106,000 | 8 | Unranked | ||||||
Ottman Azaitar | Matt Frevola | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $40,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $44,000 | 3 | Unranked | ||||||
Karolina Kowalkiewicz | Silvana Gómez Juárez | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $60,000 | $60,000 | $11,000 | $131,000 | 14 | Unranked | ||||||
Silvana Gómez Juárez | Karolina Kowalkiewicz | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $30,000 | $0 | $4,500 | $34,500 | 4 | Unranked | ||||||
Michael Trizano | Choi Seung-woo | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $40,000 | $40,000 | $6,000 | $86,000 | Trizano missed weight | 6 | Unranked | |||||
Choi Seung-woo | Michael Trizano | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $60,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $66,000 | Recieved 20% from Trizano | 8 | Unranked | |||||
Julio Arce | Montel Jackson | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $60,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $66,000 | 10 | Unranked | ||||||
Montel Jackson | Julio Arce | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $24,000 | $24,000 | $6,000 | $54,000 | 8 | Unranked | ||||||
Carlos Ulberg | Nicolae Negumereanu | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | W | $36,000 | $36,000 | $4,500 | $76,500 | 4 | Unranked | ||||||
Nicolae Negumereanu | Carlos Ulberg | 11/12/2022 | UFC 281 | L | $30,000 | $0 | $6,000 | $36,000 | 6 | Unranked |