‘Thug’ Rose Namajunas emerged the highest-paid fighter at UFC Atlanta.
Namajunas was one of three former champions who competed at UFC Atlanta on Saturday.
In the main event of the evening, the all-time great Kamaru Usman returned to the win column with a dominant decision effort over top contender Joaquin Buckley.
The co-main event saw Namajunas get her hand raised by unanimous decision as well, defeating teammate Miranda Maverick in a hard-fought fight.
Cody Garbrandt wasn’t so lucky in Atlanta as the former bantamweight champion lost to Raoni Barcelos on the scorecards.
26 fighters made the walk to the Octagon on Saturday, leaving with more than $3M in combined disclosed purses.
Rose Namajunas earns $500K, Kamaru Usman gets $300K at UFC Atlanta
According to a disclosed salary report from MMA Junkie, Namajunas earned $500,000 for her decision win over Maverick ($250K win bonus). The former two-time strawweight champion has fought 18 times in the UFC.
Right behind Namajunas is Kamaru Usman, who earned $300,000 (no win bonus) in the main event of UFC Atlanta.
Garbrandt earned $275,000 in show money after a loss to Barcelos.
The lowest earners of the night were Rodolfo Bellato ($13K), Kris Moutinho and Cameron Smotherman ($14K).
| Kamaru Usman: $300K | Joaquin Buckley: $150K |
| Rose Namajunas: $500k | Miranda Maverick: $125K |
| Edmen Shahbayzan: $186K | Andre Petroski: $100K |
| Raoni Barcelos: $102K | Cody Garbrandt: $275K |
| Mansur Abdul-Malik: $28K | Cody Brundage: $65K |
| Alonzo Menifield: $250K | Oumar Sy: $26K |
| Rodolfo Bellato: $12K | Paul Craig: $125K |
| Michael Chiesa: $300K | Court McGee: $83,000 |
| Malcolm Wellmaker: $24K | Kris Moutinho: $14K |
| Jose Ochoa: $20K | Cody Durden: $63K |
| Ricky Simon: $166K | Cameron Smotherman: $14K |
| Phil Rowe: $110K | Ange Loosa: $30K |
| Jamey-Lyn Horth: $50K | Vanessa Demopoulos: $65K |
Who earned a performance bonus at UFC Atlanta?
The $50K ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus went to Kamaru Usman and Joaquin Buckley after they went five rounds in the welterweight main event.
The UFC gave out two performance bonuses to fighters on the undercard, with Jose Ochoa making an extra $50K for his first UFC win—a thunderous second-round knockout of Cody Durden.
Once a pipe fitter/welder, Malcolm Wellmaker quit his job after he received a bonus for knocking out Cameron Saaiman in April.
Two months later, Wellmaker made it back-to-back performance bonuses with another stellar knockout of former Sean O’Malley opponent Kris Moutinho at UFC Atlanta.