Ben Rothwell (James Law/HeavyMMA)
Jones, Evans combine for more than half of $1.241 million payroll
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones hauled in a card-leading $400,000 on Saturday for his title defense win over Rashad Evans at UFC 145 in Atlanta. Evans earned $300,000 in the five-round unanimous decision loss.
The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission on Wednesday released the salary figures to HeavyMMA for the pay-per-view event that took place at Philips Arena. The total disclosed payroll for the 12 fights on the card was $1.241 million.
Jones was not contracted to receive any win bonus. Evans, however, would have picked up an additional $215,000 had he pulled the upset.
Ben Rothwell was the biggest non-main event earner on Saturday, picking up $104,000 for his upset knockout of Brendan Schaub. And in addition to that six-figure paycheck, Rothwell picked up an extra $65,000 for a Knockout of the Night bonus.
The card’s other top earners were Mac Danzig, who made $54,000 for a unanimous decision win over fellow “Ultimate Fighter” winner Efrain Escudero; Mark Bocek, who made $46,000 in a win over John Alessio to open up the pay-per-view main card; and Matt Brown, who picked up $36,000 for his upset win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson; and co-main event welterweight rising star Rory MacDonald made $36,000 for his win over Che Mills.
Along with Rothwell, Travis Browne, Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick all added $65,000 bonuses to their checks. Browne won submission of the night for his win over Chad Griggs, and Yagin and Hominick won Fight of the Night in a bloody battle that saw Yagin pull off one of the year’s biggest upsets with a split decision win.
The salaries do not include disclosed bonus awards, non-disclosed “discretionary” or “locker room” bonuses or any sponsorship monies.
The complete list of salaries is below:
Jon Jones $400,000 (no win bonus) def. Rashad Evans ($300,000)
Rory MacDonald $36,000 (inc. $18,000 win bonus) def. Che Mills ($8,000)
Ben Rothwell $104,000 (inc. $52,000 win bonus) def. Brendan Schaub ($14,000)
Michael McDonald $16,000 (inc. $8,000 win bonus) def. Miguel Torres ($32,000)
Eddie Yagin $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus) def. Mark Hominick ($17,000)
Mark Bocek $46,000 (inc. $23,000 win bonus) def. John Alessio ($10,000)
Travis Browne $24,000 (inc. $12,000 win bonus) def. Chad Griggs ($27,000)
Matt Brown $36,000 (inc. $18,000 win bonus) def. Stephen Thompson ($8,000)
Anthony Njokuani $24,000 (inc. $12,000 win bonus) def. John Makdessi ($12,000)
Mac Danzig $54,000 (inc. $27,000 win bonus) def. Efrain Escudero ($10,000)
Chris Clements $12,000 (inc. $6,000 win bonus) def. Keith Wisniewski ($10,000)
Marcus Brimage $16,000 (inc. $8,000 win bonus) def. Maximo Blanco ($13,000)