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4 UFC 291 fighters opt to release their payouts
Historically, state athletic commissions released MMA fighter pay information as a matter of course. This data is widely reported on and has been big part of how media and regulatory bodies keep promoters honest.
Utah has recently changed their policies however. As MMA Junkie reports, “Previously, fighter purse information had been released as public record. Though PSUAC executive director Scott Bowler initially declined to provide the information to MMA Junkie after UFC 278 in August 2022, it was eventually provided.
After a recent request for UFC 291 fighters’ purses, Bowler, who also serves as vice president of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC), explained the change in a written response letter to MMA Junkie and called the information “trade secrets.”
“The athletes… have expressed valid concerns regarding the public disclosure of the compensation amount in bout agreements because public disclosure of their purse amounts will negatively impact their individual ability to negotiate compensation or purse amounts for future events,” Bowler wrote.”
Payouts for Kevin Holland, Bobby Green among those released
These are the four fighters who opted to release their UFC 291 payouts:
CJ Vergara: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) for win over Vinicius Salvador
Gabriel Bonfim: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) for win over Trevin Giles
Kevin Holland: $356,000 (includes $178,000 win bonus) for win over Michael Chiesa
Bobby Green: $300,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus) for win over Tony Ferguson
Commission reticence gets pundit pushback
Not everyone is happy with Utah joining other commissions in the recent trend of refusing to release fighter pay information. Veteran MMA reporter Steven Marrocco said, “Welcome to the Twilight Zone.”
Luke Thomas pulled no punches, tweeting, “
Make no mistake about it: numerous commissions – including some in important states – have openly rejected their responsibilities as watchdog and instead work on behalf of promoters at the direct expense of the fighters. Beyond shameful, (Utah Athletic Commission).”
Utah very happy to host the UFC
As we posted before UFC 291, Utah is very happy, hell they’re lucky to get to host a major UFC ppv.
The Salt Lake Tribune has a fascinating piece asking the question, “So how is it — with UFC 291 coming to the Delta Center this Saturday — that humble little Salt Lake City has managed to host two pay-per-view events in a span of less than 12 months?
In 2010, the city was set to host UFC Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko in August, 2010 but things didn’t work out.
For one thing, the event was booked on a Sunday night. Secondly, the event was lackluster and only drew 8,000 fans in San Diego.
They tried again in 2016, hosting a UFC Fight Night that only sold “about 6,000 tickets” a weak performance that came back to haunt them.
“I think their reservations were based on 2016 — Pete (Dropick, UFC’s Executive VP of Event Development & Operations) said [it was] sort of underwhelming. It didn’t perform to our goal. So he had reservations about that. And I had to convince him, ‘That’s because you didn’t bring us a pay-per-view,’” said Powell. “And they had reservations about our overall population — they’re looking at it like, well, Phoenix has 10 million people and Salt Lake has 2.8.”
NBA Jazz owner had to get involved
Jazz owner Ryan Smith explained his interest in promoting Salt Lake City and hosting a UFC last year in a conversation with The Tribune.
“Salt Lake City is not a flyover city, and Utah is not a flyover state,” he said. “That’s manifesting through concert tours, that’s manifesting through events like this. It’s becoming a destination.”
“Though not a huge UFC fan himself, Smith recalled accompanying Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Raul Neto in August 2017 to the massive crossover bout featuring boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and UFC star Conor McGregor, and being awed by the spectacle of “The Money Fight.”
“And so, he said that he and his Smith Entertainment Group team had talked for the past few years about potentially trying to bring the UFC back to Utah following the disappointment that was the underwhelming “Fight Night” event held back in 2016.”
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