Maia Tops Reebok Bucks List While Askren Gets Hosed

Paul Miller-USA TODAY Sports

Another weekend, another event. This time the UFC machine rolled through Kallang, Singapore where all 22 fighters wore their full Reebok fight kits in compliance with the UFC’s official promotional guidelines. Why does that matter? Because if you don’t rep the kits, you don’t get paid, son!

The UFC has released the latest Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay numbers, and fighters making the long flight to Singapore Indoor Stadium made a total of $142,000 ‘Reebok bucks.’

The longer you’ve been fighting for the UFC or a promotion the UFC has digested, the more money you make. That resulted in veterans like Demian Maia and Michael Johnson making a cool $20,000 each, while new and newish fighters had to settle with the bottom tier payment of $3500. Included in that sad bracket is main event fighter Ben Askren.

Yes, that’s right: while champions and challengers get a nice bump in pay, there’s no similar bump for headlining a card. “Funky” pocketed the same as eight other UFC fighters on the card with less than 4 UFC bouts. Just another way this was a harsh weekend for the former welterweight powerhouse.

Other notable amounts include Beneil Dariush making $15,000, while Stevie Ray and Randa Markos both earned $10,000 each.

Here’s the full list of payments (via MMA Junkie):

Demian Maia: $20,000
def. Ben Askren: $3,500

Stevie Ray: $10,000
def. Michael Johnson: $20,000

Beneil Dariush: $15,000
def. Frank Camacho: $5,000

Ciryl Gane: $3,500
def. Don’Tale Mayes: $3,500

Muslim Salikhov: $4,000
def. Laureano Staropoli: $3,500

Randa Markos: $10,000
def. Ashley Yoder: $5,000

Rafael Fiziev: $3,500
def. Alex White: $5,000

Movsar Evloev: $3,500
def. Enrique Barzola: $5,000

Sergei Pavlovich: $3,500
def. Maurice Greene: $4,000

Loma Lookboonmee: $3,500
def. Aleksandra Albu: $4,000

Raphael Pessoa: $3,500
def. Jeff Hughes: $3,500

Here’s exactly how the Reebucks tiers are structured:

1-3 bouts: $3,500 per fight
4-5 bouts: $4,000 per fight
6-10 bouts: $5,000 per fight
11-15 bouts: $10,000 per fight
16-20 bouts: $15,000 per fight
21 bouts+: $20,000 per fight
Champs: $40,000 per fight
Challengers: $30,000 per fight

And the total payout to fighters per year under the Reebok uniform deal:

2019: $6,310,000 (so far)
2018: $6,901,000
2017: $6,295,000
2016: $7,138,000
2015: $3,185,000
Total: $28,297,500

The UFC / Reebok deal is set to last until 2021.