Former UFC champion leaks staggering payslip for title fight

Former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw has revealed exactly how much he was paid for his first UFC title fight.

It's long been known that even the biggest names in MMA aren't able to earn as much as their boxing counterparts, with Conor McGregor reportedly the highest career earner directly from UFC fights, with approximately $25.3million (£19.15m).

Comparatively, Jake Paul is reported to have earned $40m (£30.26m) from his bout with boxing legend Mike Tyson in November 2024.

Of course, the vast majority of fighters in the UFC earn even a fraction of the amount that McGregor was able to get during his career, as fellow two-time champion Dillashaw has proved.

In May 2014, the American fighter stepped into the octagon against Renan Barao, the number one pound-for-pound fighter in MMA at the time, as he looked to achieve his dream of becoming bantamweight champion at UFC 173.

But he's now revealed that he was only only guaranteed a purse of $18,000 (£13,620) for the fight, having signed signed a 10-fight UFC contract after losing to John Dodson in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 14 in 2011.

Six fights later, he was challenging for the belt on the same contract, despite significantly increasing his worth throughout the deal.

TJ Dillashaw has released details of his first UFC deal. (Image: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

“I was on The Ultimate Fighter contract,” Dillashaw recently revealed on the JAXXON podcast.

“I was fighting for a world title for $18,000. I got to rip that contract up.

“You’re on a 10-fight contract when you get on from The Ultimate Fighter. I was getting paid $18,000 to show and $18,000 to win.

“You start off at $10,000 and $10,000. After three wins, you go to $14,000 and $14,000. After three [more] wins, you go to $18,000 and $18,000. So, I was getting paid $18,000 to show and $18,000 to win against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

“I shocked the world, and went from having like 10,000 or 20,000 followers to hundreds of thousands.

“It just changed my life. Ultimately, yes, I got into the sport to become a champion, but also to feed my family and keep a roof over my head. I didn’t want to get a real job."

Dillashaw retired following a freak shoulder injury during his bout against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 280 main event in December 2022.

It is reported that his highest disclosed payday was roughly $100,000 (£75,682) for his UFC 177 title defence against Joe Soto in 2014.