UFC HIGHEST EARNERS PER STRIKE

Ever wondered how much money UFC fighters made for each strike that they landed, in some of the most high-profile fights in the sport’s history?

How much has each attempted, and successful strike of the world’s most famous mixed martial artists added to their bank balance?

We have tallied the data and here’s what it has to say.

FightFight NameFighterMoney Received For Showing UpTotal StrikesSuccessful StrikesMoney per StrikeMoney per Successful StrikeOpponentMoney Received By Opponent For Showing UpOpponent Total StrikesOpponent Succesful StrikesOpponent Money Per StrikeOpponent Money per Successful StrikeFight Result
UFC 207Ronda Rousey vs Amanda NunesRonda Rousey$3,000,000.00147$214,285.71$428,571.43Amanda Nunes$100,000.004727$2,127.66$3,703.70Amanda Nunes wins by TKO
UFC 218Alistair Overeem vs Francis NgannouAlistair Overeem$850,000.0041$212,500.00$850,000.00Francis Ngannou$40,000.00146$2,857.14$6,666.67Francis Ngannou wins by KO
UFC 264Conor McGregor vs Dustin PoirierConor McGregor$5,000,000.005443$92,592.59$116,279.07Dustin Poirier$1,000,000.006636$15,151.52$27,777.78Dustin Poirier wins by TKO
UFC 194Conor McGregor vs Jose AldoConor McGregor$500,000.0065$83,333.33$100,000.00Jose Aldo$400,000.0031$133,333.33$400,000.00Connor McGregor wins by KO
UFC 242Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin PoirierKhabib Nurmagomedov$6,000,000.007754$77,922.08$111,111.11Dustin Poirier$250,000.003912$6,410.26$20,833.33Khabib Nurmagomedov wins by submission
UFC 254Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Justin GaethjeKhabib Nurmagomedov$6,000,000.008026$75,000.00$230,769.23Justin Gaethje$400,000.004529$8,888.89$13,793.10Khabib Nurmagomedov wins by submission
UFC 203Alistair Overeem vs Stipe MiocicAlistair Overeem$860,000.00179$50,588.24$95,555.56Stipe Miocic$600,000.006034$10,000.00$17,647.06Stipe Miocic wins by KO
UFC 257Conor McGregor vs Dustin PoirierConor McGregor$3,000,000.009252$32,608.70$57,692.31Dustin Poirier$1,000,000.009148$10,989.01$20,833.33Dustin Poirier wins by TKO
UFC 229Khabib vs McGregorConor McGregor$3,000,000.0012896$23,437.50$31,250.00Khabib Nurmagomedov$2,000,000.0012896$15,625.00$20,833.33Khabib Nurmagomedov wins by submission
UFC 217Georges St. Pierre vs Michael BispingGeorges St. Pierre$2,500,000.0013168$19,083.97$36,764.71Michael Bisping$540,000.0012849$4,218.75$11,020.41Georges St Pierre wins by submission
UFC 229Khabib vs McGregorKhabib Nurmagomedov$2,000,000.0012896$15,625.00$20,833.33Conor McGregor$3,000,000.0012896$23,437.50$31,250.00Khabib Nurmagomedov wins by submission
UFC 264Conor McGregor vs Dustin PoirierDustin Poirier$1,000,000.006636$15,151.52$27,777.78Conor McGregor$5,000,000.005443$92,592.59$116,279.07Dustin Poirier wins by TKO
UFC 200Brock Lesnar vs Mark HuntBrock Lesnar$2,500,000.00167137$14,970.06$18,248.18Mark Hunt$710,000.006846$10,441.18$15,434.78No Contest
UFC 202Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregorConor McGregor$3,000,000.00322197$9,316.77$15,228.43Nate Diaz$2,000,000.00435252$4,597.70$7,936.51Connor McGregor wins by decision
UFC 208Anderson Silva vs. Derek BrunsonAnderson Silva$820,000.008954$9,213.48$15,185.19Derek Brunson$53,000.0010154$524.75$981.48Anderson Silva wins by decision
UFC 202Nate Diaz vs Conor McGregorNate Diaz$2,000,000.00435252$4,597.70$7,936.51Conor McGregor$3,000,000.00322197$9,316.77$15,228.43Connor McGregor wins by decision

Ronda Rousey lost to Amanda Nunes in the octagon but still made more money per strike - more than anyone else.

UFC 207 saw Ronda Rousey make her first appearance in the octagon after relinquishing her bantamweight title and undefeated record to Holly Holm.

Rousey was unsuccessful in her bid to regain the bantamweight championship, with Amanda Nunes picking up a TKO win in just 48 seconds.

Rousey only attempted 14 strikes in the matchup, landing 7 of them. Nunes outclassed the American, attempting 47 strikes and connecting on 27 of them. Despite Nunes being the better fighter, Rousey, at the time, was a bigger draw which can be seen by the $3,000,000 she received a payout. This figure was significantly higher than the $100,000 that Nunes received.

Combine that with the lesser amount of strikes Rousey had and you have the highest money received per strike among all UFC fights - $214,285.71. For each strike that she connected on, Rousey earned $428,571.43.

THE MEN WHO EARNED THE MOST PER STRIKE

Alistair Overeem’s $212,500 earned per strike in his loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 218 is the most a man earned per strike in UFC history. Overeem only landed a single strike against Ngannou, earning a cool $850,000 for it.

Overall, Connor McGregor got the most buck out of his banging strikes, raking in $241,288.19 per strike in five different fights.

EARNING MORE PER STRIKE DOESN’T GUARANTEE A WIN

A higher guaranteed payout is an indication that you’re a bigger draw. This shows up in an interesting way in our analysis where six times out of 13, the fighter with higher money earned per strike ended up on the losing end.

Khabib Nurgagomedov, of course, has a 100 percent winning record when he’s the bigger draw. At UFC 229, he had a lesser guaranteed payout than Connor McGregor and earned less per strike than the Irishman. He did walk away with the title and gave us the iconic moment of jumping over the cage and scaring the life out of Drake.

THE BLOCKBUSTER FIGHTS FOR MONEY EARNED PER STRIKE

UFC 229264, and 202 saw both fighters raking in some serious money per strike.

All of these fights had one common factor - Connor McGregor.

In each of the fights, he had a higher guaranteed payout than his opponent. Funnily enough, he lost all of them. McGregor’s drawing power definitely helped his opponents as they made enough to feature in this list for money made per strike.

METHODOLOGY

  • We calculated money made per strike by only using the disclosed earnings for the fighters.
  • PPV earnings, sponsor money, and insurance deductions are not considered as there is no officially disclosed figure for these
  • We looked at official UFC stats for the strike details and divided the earnings by the number of strikes and successful strikes to determine the money earned per strike/successful strike