UFC fighter compensation takes a number of forms. There is the win/bonus money, that is sometimes made public. There are the four $50,000 performance bonuses that are always public. There is Reebok money, also always public. There are less formal ‘locker room’ bonuses that are sometimes mailed to fighters after the event. And the biggest draws in the league can receive a percentage of the pay-per-view gross, as contracted.
Details of contractual arrangements around PPV points are not public, but a few times the contracts have been revealed during court proceedings. To give one example, when Eddie Alvarez joined the UFC in 2014, his contract offered $1 for each PPV between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000, and no extra money for PPV buys under 200,000.
Deiveson Figueiredo fought four times in 2020. He fought Joseph Benavidez for the belt vacated by Henry Cejudo, and won, but missed weight so was ineligible for the title. He made weight and won the rematch, making the belt official. Then he retained the belt twice, submitting Alex Perez in November, and a record one month only later drawing with Brandon Moreno.
During a recent interview with Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting, Figueiredo was asked if he got his win money after the mighty five-round fight.
I won my show money, the [Fight of the Night] bonus, but I haven’t gotten an extra — but I would like it, he replied. I want the UFC to at least have me make some pay-per-view [points].
I gave my all, I love fighting in the UFC. I went in the Octagon to break myself into pieces and give them the fight of the night because that’s what fans want to see, fighters that don’t slow down, that go in for a bloody game. I’m that type of fighter, you know, so I want the UFC to look at me with different eyes, that they give me pay-per-view [points].
It’s missing some pay-per-view in my purse. If they already add it to this fight [vs . Moreno], that would be great, brother, but I would like to start making pay-per-view [points] for my next ones. I deserve this. I love working for the UFC and I want to be more valued, you know?
Now Figueiredo’s manager Wallid Ismail, who also promotes Brazil’s Jungle Fight, tells Cruz that the wish has been granted.
I told [UFC matchmaker] Mick Maynard, ‘This guy will bring back the power to the flyweight division. He fights to kill his opponents, not to score points.’ And he trusted us and kept the division,” said Ismail. “Deiveson started to put on a show, and this last fight was his coronation.
The guy was sick and still fought so the pay-per-view wouldn’t lose its main event. It was a draw, but saw it as a win for us, and now they said he deserves the pay-per-view [points]. The UFC really values a complete athlete, one that sells. You can’t be good but not sell. That’s why selling matters so much. That’s what I always tell my athletes.
People have to understand that MMA is a business. I have a great relationship with the UFC because I understand their side. If an athlete doesn’t sell…They didn’t have lighter fighters headlining pay-per-views before, they would go to Fight Nights because they didn’t sell. But when Deiveson started putting on a show and really showing that flyweights have power, that he has charisma…
His life story is the best. His life story shows that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, from Africa or in the middle of the Amazon rainforest — which is his case — or Western Europe, you can become UFC champion if you train hard and is focused. Deiveson proved it. The way he acts, his charisma, his authenticity — and knocking people out, which is the most important of all. He goes there and puts on a show.
Ismail told Cruz that Figueredo and Moreno need time to recover from the injuries sustained in the fight, but want a rematch, and that his fighter should be ready by May.
