Saturday night's UFC 181 card was an action-packed extravaganza of violence. The entertainment value of this card was well worth the price of the pay-per-view, if only for the Pettis/Melendez and Lawler/Hendricks fights. We saw a new welterweight champion crowned and saw the lightweight champion perform as though there hadn't been 15 months of inactivity on his resume.
The total disclosed payroll for the event was $1,317,000. It should come as no surprise that new welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler topped the payroll, with a healthy $220,000 (includes $110K win bonus). Gilbert Melendez has excellent representation, as demonstrated by his $200,000 purse. Here is the total listing of the purse payouts as reported by MMA Junkie:
Robbie Lawler: $220,000 (includes $110,000 win bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $150,000
Anthony Pettis: $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
def. Gilbert Melendez: $200,000
Travis Browne: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
def. Brendan Schaub: $32,000
Todd Duffee: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Hamilton: $10,000
Tony Ferguson: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus)
def. Abel Trujillo: $14,000
Urijah Faber: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)
def. Francisco Rivera: $20,000
Josh Samman: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Eddie Gordon: $15,000
Corey Anderson: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Justin Jones: $8,000
Raquel Pennington: $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
def. Ashlee Evans-Smith: $8,000
Sergio Pettis: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Hobar: $10,000
Clay Collard: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Alex White: $10,000
*These figures do not reflect deductions made for licensure, insurance or taxes. They also do not reflect additional income such as sponsor money, discretional bonuses or PPV points money.