UFC 203 is set to be the highest grossing non-Conor McGregor card for the organisation in some time as viewers tuned in to see two important heavyweight fights and one extremely intriguing experiment involving a former WWE superstar.
CM Punk took on Mickey Gall in Cleveland and the fight went exactly as many thought it would. In less than three minutes it was all over, and the people who watched just to take the piss out of CM Punk would have been delighted, but the man himself was an image of positivity.
Punk gave an incredible post-fight interview where he encouraged people to believe in themselves and chase their dreams, something you don't see too often from a losing fighter in the UFC, but with the release of the salaries paid to fighters at UFC 203, it's clear that CM Punk still won big.
The former WWE man netting himself a cool $500,000 for his night's work.
Stipe Miocic — $600,000 (no win bonus) plus $50,000 for 'Fight of the Night'
Alistair Overeem — $800,000 plus $50,000 for 'Fight of the Night'
Fabricio Werdum — $375,000 ($250,000 to show, $125,000 to win)
Travis Browne — $120,000
CM Punk — $500,000 (no win bonus)
Mickey Gall — $30,000 ($15,000 to show, $15,000 to win)
Urijah Faber — $160,000
Jimmie Rivera — $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win)
Jessica Andrade — $46,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 to win) plus $50,000 for 'Fight of the Night'
Joanne Calderwood — $25,000
Bethe Correia — $50,000 ($25,000 to show, $25,000 to win)
Jessica Eye — $25,000
Brad Tavares — $56,000 ($28,000 to show, $28,000 to win)
Caio Magalhaes — $20,000
Nik Lentz — $76,000 ($38,000 to show, $38,000 to win)
Michael McBride — $12,000
Yancy Medeiros — $48,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 to win) plus $50,000 for 'Performance of the Night'
Sean Spencer — $17,000
Drew Dober — $38,000 ($19,000 to show, $19,000 to win)
Jason Gonzalez — $10,000
While it is understandable that his draw brought a lot of viewers to the PPV that would not have been there otherwise, that still seems like a crazy amount of money, especially considering that Fabricio Werdum, who fought for the title in his last bout, earned less.
Mickey Gall's fee is minuscule in comparison, but is in keeping with what should be paid to a man to really should be fighting on the Fight Pass Prelims at this point in his career. That's no disrespect to Gall, who impressed nearly everyone and earned a tonne of new fans in with his attitude before, during, and after the fight, but that was his second UFC fight, and he is yet to fight someone who belongs in the octagon.
Dana White has since stated that he thinks CM Punk's next MMA fight should come away from the UFC, which will mean a big reduction in his fee. Still, fair play to him for getting in there and trying it.
[via Fox Sports]
