Addison Sports Management and Media: UFC 148 Salaries: Forrest Griffin Pockets $275,000

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

By Shaun Al-Shatti - Staff Writer

Jul 9, 2012 - Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin topped the disclosed payroll for UFC 148, taking home $275,000 for his co-main event victory over retiring legend Tito Ortiz, according to figures released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Griffin's high-volume attack propelled him to take the judges' decision in the pair's rubber match, however the former champ was criticized by both UFC President Dana White and Ortiz ($250,000) himself for post-fight antics that saw Griffin leave the Octagon before the judges' scorecards could be read, only to return and cut in on Ortiz's final post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
In the blockbuster main event, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva earned a disclosed purse of $200,000 for defeating his polarizing rival Chael Sonnen via second-round TKO. Sonnen pocketed $50,000 in the losing effort.

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Outside of the four featured fighters, former Strikeforce champion Cung Le ($150,000), welterweight submission ace Demian Maia ($96,000), and lightweight bruiser Melvin Guillard ($72,000) led the payroll charge.
UFC 148 took place on July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The entire UFC 148 payroll can be seen below, however these figures do not represent a fighter's total earnings, as sponsorship money and discretionary post-fight bonuses are not publicly disclosed.
Additionally, Silva, Griffin and Ortiz took home $75,000 in post-fight bonuses for their work.
Main card:Anderson Silva ($200,000 + no win bonus) def. Chael Sonnen ($50,000)
Forrest Griffin ($125,000 + $150,000 = $275,000) def. Tito Ortiz ($250,000)
Cung Le ($150,000 + no win bonus) def. Patrick Cote ($21,000)
Demian Maia ($48,000 + $48,000 = $96,000) def. Dong Hyun Kim ($44,000)
Chad Mendes ($18,000 + $18,000 = $36,000) def. Cody McKenzie ($10,000)
Mike Easton ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Ivan Menjivar ($13,000)
FX preliminary card:Melvin Guillard ($36,000 + $36,000 = $72,000) def. Fabricio Camoes ($8,000)
Khabib Nurmagomedov ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Gleison Tibau ($31,000)
Constantinos Philippou ($16,000 + $16,000 = $32,000) def. Riki Fukuda ($28,000)
Shane Roller ($23,000 + $23,000 = $46,000) def. John Alessio ($10,000)
Facebook preliminary card:Rafaello Oliveira ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Yoislandy Izquierdo ($6,000)