UFC 296 payslip revealed including Leon Edwards, Paddy Pimblett and Colby Covington wages

The UFC 296 payslips for the likes of Leon Edwards, Paddy Pimblett and Colby Covington have all been revealed.

Edwards, 32, was able to retain the UFC welterweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday night after beating Covington by unanimous decision.

The fight was fuelled by a series of controversial comments made by the American prior to their bout, after Covington made a comment about Edwards' late father who was murdered when he was a teenager.

Speaking after his victory at the T-Mobile Arena, Edwards outlined how difficult it was to remain calm after comments made by his opponent.

“This was an emotional fight for me,” he told Joe Rogan in the Octagon after his win. “This guy used my dad’s death as entertainment, he used my dad’s murder as entertainment. It took a lot for me to calm down, stay focused and come into this fight.

“After the press conference, I went backstage, I was crying just with the rage. You can’t use my dad’s death as entertainment, and that’s what he did. To this day, it still breaks my heart that he was murdered. [Covington] said [my dad] should burn in hell. He’s a great competitor but a dirty human being.”

Elsewhere, Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett was also able to secure the win against UFC legend Tony Ferguson, which marked the seventh defeat in a row for the 39-year-old.

Following an evening of heated exchanges in the ring, as well as a brawl between middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Dricus De Plessis in the crowd, the salaries for each fighter have since been revealed, according to MMA Salaries.

Edwards, who progressed to a 22-3 record on the night, is said to have received $1.6million (£1.2m) in total, while his opponent Covington walked away with $780,000 (£615k).

Pimblett received $154,000 (£118k) after the win, with his opponent Ferguson netting a figure in the region of $271,000 (£212k), due to his higher base salary in the UFC.

Another big earner included Alexandre Potoja, who secured the win against Brandon Royval by decision, who secured just under $1million on the evening.

Bonuses were also handed out to fighters based on individual performances, with Irene Aldana and Karol Rosa will taking home an additional $50,000 each for the 'Fight of the Night' award.

As well as three 'Performance of the Night' awards being granted to Josh Emmett for his first round knock-out of Bryce Mitchell, Ariane Lipski for her second round submission of Casey O'Neill and finally Shamil Gaziev for his second-round win against Martin Buday.