‘Outrageous’ – UFC Faces Heat Over UFC 331 Fighter Pay
UFC 331 delivered plenty inside the cage, with three of the five main card bouts ending in a finish.
The conversation surrounding the event has now shifted to something that happened long before the fighters walked into Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, their fight purse.
The UFC 331 Gable Steveson-Ruffy Pay Disparity Has Fans Talking
The California State Athletic Commission's disclosed payout sheet revealed that Alexandre Pantoja was the highest-paid fighter on the card at $650,000, while champion Joshua Van was set to make $500,000 for their flyweight title rematch.
Next up, the co-main event headliner, Arman Tsarukyan, who bagged $350,000, while Patricio Pitbull and Marlon Vera were both listed at $400,000. On the surface, those are hardly insignificant numbers. But one figure immediately caught fans' attention.
Gable Steveson, who had just one UFC fight under his belt before facing Sean Sharaf, was listed at $160,000. Mauricio Ruffy, meanwhile, who is 6-2-0 in the UFC, was set to make $110,000 to show and another $110,000 if he won against Tsarukyan.
Fans Irate over Certain Fighters Earning More
The math is simple here: Steveson was guaranteed $50,000 more than Ruffy despite the Brazilian walking into UFC 331 as one of the promotion's most highly touted lightweight prospects and competing in the co-main event.
That was outright disrespectful to some fans. Ruffy's disclosed figure was particularly striking because the 30-year-old has quickly built a reputation as one of the UFC's most dangerous young lightweights. He entered the Tsarukyan fight with an undefeated UFC record and was competing in a co-main event against one of the division's elite contenders.
In comparison, Steveson was still at the beginning of his MMA career. The former Olympic wrestling champion had only one professional UFC fight before UFC 331, a first-round knockout of Elisha Ellison at UFC 329. Despite the stats, UFC apparently had made a significant investment in the former Olympic star, and that was reflected in his disclosed $160,000 purse.
The reaction from fans was immediate - “Stevenson earning more than Ruffy is just disrespectful man.” Another fan questioned the broader economics of Van's career, writing, “Later in Vans career he should just move on to boxing 500k for that performance is robbery. Hed make millions in boxing.”
The Ruffy comparison, however, appeared to be the one that really struck a nerve. A third fan noted, “How tf is Ruffy making less than Gable that is abysmal." There was also some disbelief over Van's $500,000 payday despite the champion putting on a memorable performance.
Then came the usual Drake joke, “Drake make more money from his bet than Joshua Van made on the fight.” Meanwhile, another fan took aim at the overall disclosed figures, asking, “lol nobody made even a mil? Come on Dana.”
That said, the disclosed numbers don't tell the entire story. The California State Athletic Commission figures do not include performance or discretionary bonuses, nor do they account for letters of agreement, commonly known as side letters, which can provide additional compensation in certain cases.
Still, the figures provide a rare glimpse into how the UFC's disclosed pay structure looked on one of its biggest cards of the year.
Sharaf’s Pay Makes the Steveson Figure Even More Noticeable
Perhaps the most human reaction came from fans comparing Steveson's paycheck to that of the man who just knocked him out. Sean Sharaf was listed at $60,000, $30,000 to show, and another $30,000 for the win while Steveson was guaranteed $160,000.
Sharaf, of course, left UFC 331 with considerably more than the disclosed $60,000 after his stunning 12-second knockout as Dana White added $50,000 to his Performance of the Night bonus, taking the total bonus to $100,000.
Still, fans couldn't stand the obvious disparity: “Sharaf getting 60K and Gable getting 160k is outrageous. Dude got his ass beat with a single punch and got paid more.”
In fact, what's more interesting is that Ruffy's $110,000 show money. Even with another $110,000 available for a victory, he was still guaranteed less than Steveson despite competing in the co-main event.
