B.J. Penn may have been torched in his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) return, but he did earn the most when it comes to base salaries. The UFC Fight Night event from Phoenix, Arizona this past Sunday (Jan. 15) is now history. The main event saw the UFC Hall of Famer battle Yair Rodriguez.
Except this wasn’t even really a battle.
“El Pantera’s” speed and flashiness were simply too much for “The Prodigy.” Instead of looking like the man who once dominated the lightweight division, Penn looked slow and a few steps behind the game. Still, he earned $150,000 to show. Rodriguez went home with $100,000 and that’s not including his $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus.
The co-main event saw lightweights Joe Lauzon and Marcin Held go toe-to-toe. The fight was exciting, but it ended in controversy. “J-Lau” was awarded the split decision win, but he felt he didn’t deserve it. Many fans and experts felt the same way. Lauzon walked out of the Talking Stick Arena with $116,000, while Held took home $20,000.
Another controversial decision came at the end of Ben Saunders’ bout with Court McGee. While many had McGee winning the fight, “Killa B” was awarded the win by unanimous decision. Saunders earned $40,000 for the win and his opponent took home $35,000.
Below are the rest of the card’s disclosed salaries:
Yair Rodriguez: $100,000 ($50,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn: $150,000
Joe Lauzon: $116,000 ($58,000 win bonus) def. Marcin Held: $20,000
Ben Saunders: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus) def. Court McGee: $35,000
Sergio Pettis: $54,000 ($27,000 win bonus) def. John Moraga: $28,000
Drakkar Klose: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Devin Powell: $10,000
Augusto Mendes: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Frankie Saenz: $20,000
Aleksei Oleinik: $48,000 ($24,000 win bonus) def. Viktor Pesta: $10,000
Tony Martin: $32,000 ($16,000 win bonus) def. Alex White: $14,000
Nina Ansaroff: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger: $10,000
Walt Harris: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus) def. Chase Sherman: $10,000
Joachim Christensen: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Bojan Mihajlovic: $10,000
Cyril Asker: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus) def. Dmitrii Smoliakov: $10,000
