With UFC 298 going down on Saturday night, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria, here at SportsLens we have decided to assess the UFC 298 purses, fighter pay, payouts and potential bonuses.
Tuning into a free UFC 298 live stream courtesy of BetOnline is the best option for UFC fans wanting to watch this compelling bout totally free of charge. Alternatively watch a Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria live stream specifically for the main event.
UFC 298 Purses & Payouts
Saturday’s UFC 298 pay-per-view is the second PPV event of the year from Dana White. First was UFC 297 last month, headlined by Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis for the UFC Middleweight Title. This time it’s UFC 298, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria.
Volkanovski vs Topuria goes down for the UFC Featherweight Title in the main event, with Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa the co-main event in a middleweight contest. Some other big names such as former two-division champion Henry Cejudo, Merab Dvalishvili, Geoff Neal and Ian Garry also feature on the main card.
UFC 298 tickets have flown out for Saturday’s main event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. With this being just the second UFC pay-per-view of the year, anticipation is palpable for what is sure to be a historic night of MMA action.
The Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria prize money on offer for the main event is extraordinary. However, each of the fighters on the undercard are set to receive big purses too. Of course, the bigger the name and the higher up the card, the more fighter pay that athlete receives.
Each fighter on the UFC 298 card is of course set to receive their own individual purse. However, their purses can be enhanced in several ways through the various UFC bonuses on offer on the night. This includes the likes of the ‘Performance of the Night’ or ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.
With that said, these fighters can expect some hefty paydays this weekend so let’s investigate what the expected purse and fighter pay will be for each of the 24 fighters featuring on the UFC 298 card.
Complete UFC 298 Fighter Pay
Using previously disclosed figures, we’ve crunched the numbers to foresee the potential payouts for the fighters on this weekend’s upcoming UFC 298 event in Anaheim, California, USA.
In total, the UFC is projected to pay out over $3 million in salaries, incentives, and bonuses at UFC 298.
It comes as no surprise to learn that the 145-pound UFC champion, Alexander Volkanovski, is set to be the single highest paid fighter on the UFC 298 bill. ‘The Great’ is set to receive a minimum of $1,042,000. However, this figure is likely to catapult to $1.5m+ in the aftermath of the event once you take into account sponsorship and a potential win bonus.
This comes as no surprise to UFC fans, given that it is Volkanovski’s seventh UFC main event. The UFC Featherweight Champion will walk away with the biggest purse as he steps into the octagon in the main event at UFC 298. The challenger to Volk’s throne, Ilia Topuria, is set to be the second highest paid fighter on the UFC 298 card.
‘El Matador’ is set to receive a payday of around $532,000 as a minimum. Similar to Volkanovski, this figure will rise considerably in the aftermath of the event. This depends on how many pay-per-views the fight does on ESPN+ PPV, as well as the gate receipts, endorsements and whether the Spanish MMA phenom wins or not.
Some of the other highest paid fighters at UFC 298 this weekend are Robert Whittaker ($321k), Henry Cejudo ($161k), Amanda Lemos ($131k), Mackenzie Dern ($111k) and Merab Dvalishvili ($111k). This rounds off the highest-paid fighters and biggest purses at UFC 298 this weekend.
Check out the projected UFC 298 pay-outs for each fighter below, per The Sports Daily:
UFC 298 Total Fighter Pay:
| Fighter | Base Pay | Incentive Pay | Guaranteed Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Volkanovski | $1 million | $42,000 | $1,042,000 |
| Ilia Topuria | $500,000 | $32,000 | $532,000 |
| Paulo Costa | $65,000 | $6,000 | $71,000 |
| Robert Whittaker | $300,000 | $21,000 | $321,000 |
| Ian Garry | $50,000 | $6,000 | $56,000 |
| Geoff Neal | $63,000 | $11,000 | $74,000 |
| Henry Cejudo | $150,000 | $11,000 | $161,000 |
| Merab Dvalishvili | $100,000 | $11,000 | $111,000 |
| Anthony Hernandez | $50,000 | $6,000 | $56,000 |
| Roman Kopylov | $45,000 | $6,000 | $51,000 |
| Mackenzie Dern | $100,000 | $11,000 | $111,000 |
| Amanda Lemos | $120,000 | $11,000 | $131,000 |
| Marcos Rogerio de Lima | $75,000 | $16,000 | $91,000 |
| Justin Tafa | $45,000 | $6,000 | $51,000 |
| Rinya Nakamura | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Carlos Vera | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Zhang Mingyang | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Brendson Ribeiro | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Danny Barlow | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Josh Quinlan | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Oban Elliott | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Val Woodburn | $12,000 | $4,000 | $16,000 |
| Andrea Lee | $70,000 | $11,000 | $81,000 |
| Miranda Maverick | $50,000 | $6,000 | $56,000 |
UFC 298 Sponsorship, Incentive & Compliance Pay
On top of their guaranteed pay for fighting at UFC 298, the UFC will pay out an additional $245,000 worth of incentive pay to their fighters this weekend.
The incentive pay is generated by the UFC’s sportswear sponsor – Venum. Each of the 24 fighters on the UFC 298 card will receive an individual bonus on top of their existing purse. As you can see in the table above, the incentive pay ranges from as little as $4,000 to as much as $42,000.
Fighters with 1-3 professional bouts under the UFC banner will receive $4,000, 4-5 fights pays out $4,500, 6-10 bouts pay out $6,000, 11-15 pay out $11,000, 16-20 pay out $16,000 and 21 fights or more pays out $21,000. Meanwhile, title challengers are paid $32,000 and champions are paid $42,000.
Essentially, the longer a fighter has fought in the UFC, the bigger his/her incentive pay. So as the UFC Featherweight Champion, Alexander Volkanovski is set to receive the highest incentive pay out of any fighter on the entire UFC 298 card.
Alexander Volkanovski is the -125 favorite to win the UFC 298 main event with the best offshore sportsbooks. On the other hand, Ilia Topuria is currently priced around +105 with the best US sportsbooks to pull off the upset and become the 145-pound world champion at the first time of asking.
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