In the world of not surprising news, ESPN released the list of top paid athletes in 30 different sports and Brock Lesnar was the top-paid MMA star of the last year.
Lesnar brought in $5.3 million according to the report, which factors in all the money he made through the UFC as part of base salary and earnings. That total doesn’t include endorsements, appearance fees, or sponsorship money.
Needless to say, Brock Lesnar is doing pretty well.
Some may argue that Lesnar shouldn’t be the highest-paid athlete in MMA, but the numbers back up the fact that he should. Lesnar’s PPV events do over $1 million buys, which put more money in the UFC’s pocket, thus putting more money in his pocket.
Love him or hate him, he is a draw, and the UFC is paying based on who will make them the most money, not just who is the best fighter.
Jon Fitch is a great fighter, but people aren’t lining up to see him fight on the main event of a card.
Lesnar made a base salary of $400,000 for his win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, which means that he has some hefty bonuses and gate percentages in his contract.
On a side note, Lesnar ranked 12th on this list of highest paid athletes in each sport, just edging women’s tennis star Kim Clijsters. Essentially that means that MMA ranks about 12th on the pay scale of all sports.
While it is unknown just how much money most fighters make these days, it is clear that you can make a healthy living in MMA if you climb your way to the top and you are a polarizing figure.
