Brock Lesnar’s UFC 100 opponent has revealed how much he was paid for the event.
Promoted as a historic event, UFC 100 took place 15 years ago and featured Frank Mir taking on WWE superstar turned fighter Lesnar as its main event.
It sold a then-record 1.6 million pay-per-views and produced over $71million (£56million) in revenue.
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However, salaries for the event, which were publicly available at the time, showed Mir made just $45,000 (£35,000) for his defeat, while Lesnar earned $400,000 (£315,000). Those fees were before pay-per-view sales were factored in.
However, Mir admitted that even with his bonus he didn’t clear $1million (£790,000) for his fight with Lesnar. In fact, he said he didn't make over $1million in any bout across his 15-year UFC career.
“I think when it finally dawned on me was the Deontay Wilder [rematch] with Tyson Fury,” Mir told MMA Fighting. “We still did more buys than they did, me and Brock, and then I’m looking at the pay-per-view cost. OK, the money was there. Who did it go to?
“Seeing these guys make $40million combined. I’m like wow. Brock obviously made seven figures off it, I think he made $2.5 million. But I didn’t even make a million.
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“Brock himself, a much bigger superstar than [Fury or Wilder]. How come he wasn’t making $20 million? That blows my mind, and I don’t understand it.
“Until Conor [McGregor] came along, we had the record for the most pay-per-view buys sold.”
Mir admitted that as a fighter he didn’t appreciate how little money he earned compared to the profits the promotion took home. He now acknowledges the salary he earned from the UFC didn’t come close to what he should have been making.
“At the time, I didn’t know better,” Mir continued. “We didn’t know. Just now as time goes on, I’m looking around like, hold on a second, that makes no sense. A pay-per-view buy is a pay-per-view buy.
“Why is this sport paying their athletes this percentage of what they’re making versus this one? It’s the pretty same makeup. This isn’t two wildly different sports, boxing and MMA.
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“They’re very comparable when it comes to putting up a cage or a ring, so it’s not like the costs are different.
“So what’s the difference here? Oh, that’s because you have competing promoters, and they know what’s going on, and you can’t screw each other. In the UFC, it’s the only promoter.
“In MMA, the show is the only promoter. It’s not like we’re going to have a Bellator fighter and a UFC fighter, and they’re both on the card, so both organisations know what they’re going to get their guy because they both understand the revenue models.
“They understand what’s going on. They’re not speaking from ignorance.”
Featured Image Credit: GettyTopics: UFC, Brock Lesnar, MMA, Boxing