by Ariel Shnerer, The Fight Network

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Updated: February 1, 2009, 6:41 PM EST
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Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre lead UFC 94 paydays with $400,000 for his fourth-round TKO win over Hawaiian lightweight king B.J. Penn, who took home $125,000 in defeat, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.



St-Pierre's total salary reflects a $200,000 base pay and a win bonus worth the same amount. Had Penn vanquished the French-Canadian champion, he would have earned an extra $250,000.

Unbeaten Brazilian karate wizard Lyoto Machida pocketed $185,000 for his first-round knockout of compatriot Thiago Silva. The figure reflects a $60,000 base pay, a $60,000 win bonus and a $65,000 "Knockout of the Night" bonus.

Other bonuses include $65,000 "Fight of the Night" honors going to Nathan Diaz and Clay Guida for their lightweight war, which was the first fight of the pay-per-view telecast. Guida won a highly competitive split decision to earn $105,000 total.

For the second time in three UFC shows, no "Submission of the Night" bonus was dished out as there was no submission finish on the card. But a second "Fight of the Night" bonus was allocated to the preliminary welterweight bout between Chris Wilson and John Howard, which Howard won via split decision. Howard made $71,000 for his UFC debut, while Wilson took home $80,000 in a losing effort.

Salary figures for undercard light heavyweight combatants Christian Wellisch and Jake O'Brien are not yet available.

Fighter payroll was $1.057 million, totaling less than the base pay of Andrei Arlovski for his first-round knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on Jan. 24.

Salaries do not reflect undisclosed figures such as locker-room bonuses, sponsorship earnings and additional compensation.

Listed below are the full paydays from UFC 94. Fighters are listed in order from highest paid to lowest.

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# Georges St. Pierre: $400,000 ($200,000 to show plus $200,000 to win)

# Lyoto Machida: $185,000 ($60,000 to show; $60,000 to win; and $65,000 for "Knockout of the Night")

# B.J. Penn: $125,000 (would have earned an additional $125,000 had he won)

# Clay Guida: $105,000 ($20,000 to show; $20,000 to win; and $65,000 for "Fight of the Night")

# Nate Diaz: $85,000 ($20,000 to show and $65,000 for "Fight of the Night"; would have earned an additional $20,000 had he won)

# Karo Parisyan: $80,000 ($40,000 to show and $40,000 to win)

# Chris Wilson: $80,000 ($15,000 to show and $65,000 for "Fight of the Night"; would have earned an additional $15,000 had he won)

# John Howard: $71,000 ($3,000 to show; $3,000 to win; and $65,000 for "Fight of the Night")

# Jon Fitch: $68,000 ($34,000 to show and $34,000 to win)

# Thiago Silva: $29,000 (would have earned an additional $29,000 had he won)



# Akihiro Gono: $28,000 (would have earned an additional $28,000 had he won)

# Dong Hyun Kim: $26,000 (would have earned an additional $26,000 had he won)

# Thiago Tavares: $26,000 ($13,000 to show and $13,000 to win)

# Stephan Bonnar: $22,000 (would have earned an additional $22,000 had he won)

# Manny Gamburyan: $14,000 (would have earned an additional $14,000 had he won)

# Dan Cramer: $16,000 ($8,000 to show and $8,000 to win)

# Jon Jones: $14,000 ($7,000 to show and $7,000 to win)

# Matt Arroyo: $8,000 (would have earned an additional $8,000 had he won)

This post (http://www.fightlinker.com/pay-figures-are-out-not-that-theyre-accurate-or-anything.mma) by Ryan Harkness aka Fightlinker basically sums up why disclosed pay really doesn't mean anything.

So how long is it before we just dismiss what the commissions are reporting as fight salaries? Because at this point, the numbers being listed for most top fighters isn’t anywhere close to what is actually being paid. The official line is “These numbers don’t include percentages of PPV, backroom bonuses, sponsorships passed on by the UFC, special deals, and so on.” Why don’t we change that to “These numbers don’t mean anything and are just bull**** numbers the UFC gives the commission because they’re legally obliged to by an impotent law.”

And it's the same thing with Affliction, anyone who thinks Fedor only made 300,000 must have hit there head on a crack pipe.

And it's the same thing with Affliction, anyone who thinks Fedor only made 300,000 must have hit there head on a crack pipe.

Only difference is that Fedor is getting a percentage of buyrates that barely hit 85K buys, whereas GSP & Penn are probably gonna get a percentage of a much bigger buyrate probably no less than 700K buys. So essentially he's more than likely getting less than alot of the fighters in the UFC, which is a shame.

The numbers may be inaccurate but they put you in the ballpark. Do you really think that UFC is handing out MILLIONS in backroom bonuses and special deals? It's unlikely...

Also, the sponsorship deals they land shouldn't be included in any part of a fighters compensation for a bout. They're typically independent contracts with companies like condom depot, Tapout etc...

This 400k bull**** is a travesty and I'd be surprised if GSP makes over a million for such a huge fight...

I think these guys are getting ripped off and the UFC is exploiting it's fighters but it does do one thing for the fans... it keeps fighters active.

The numbers may be inaccurate but they put you in the ballpark. Do you really think that UFC is handing out MILLIONS in backroom bonuses and special deals? It's unlikely...

Also, the sponsorship deals they land shouldn't be included in any part of a fighters compensation for a bout. They're typically independent contracts with companies like condom depot, Tapout etc...

This 400k bull**** is a travesty and I'd be surprised if GSP makes over a million for such a huge fight...
I think these guys are getting ripped off and the UFC is exploiting it's fighters but it does do one thing for the fans... it keeps fighters active.

Well Couture made in the $2.5 million ballpark for his last fight.

Well Couture made in the $2.5 million ballpark for his last fight.

And for a company that has been around since 93' and has been mainstream since 2005, I'd say that's a pretty good payday.

And for a company that has been around since 93' and has been mainstream since 2005, I'd say that's a pretty good payday.

totally agreed.

I've been reading more about the payouts and it looks like a majority of their compensation comes from PPV. Surprisingly, it's somewhere in the range of 1-3 per PPV buy which makes it fairly lucrative.

There was speculation that the UFC was worth over a billion in 07'... I can't believe fighters are still agreeing to a contractual 400k in compensation.

There was speculation that the UFC was worth over a billion in 07'... I can't believe fighters are still agreeing to a contractual 400k in compensation.

Makes sense to me..the UFC is turning these guys into stars. What other promoter spends 1.7 million in promotion for fighters?

We're obviously looking at it from a different perspectives. I think they spend 1.7 million promoting their event and not the fighters. They've just about designed their little money machine so that the fighters are interchangeable...

We're obviously looking at it from a different perspectives. I think they spend 1.7 million promoting their event and not the fighters. They've just about designed their little money machine so that the fighters are interchangeable...

I understand but the fighters couldn't get this promotion from anyone else and UFC is responsible for turning these no name interchangeable fighters into stars.

UFC makes mma mainstream

UFC takes in the majority of money

Sounds fair to me.