UFC 249 prize money: How much will Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje earn?
UFC 249 prize money - Express Sport breaks down how much Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje are set to pocket for their showdown in Florida.
UFC 249: Justin Gaethje reflects on win against Tony Ferguson
After a two-month hiatus, the UFC returns this weekend for its fourth pay-per-view card of the year. Topping the UFC 249 bill - a card which will take place behind closed doors at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida - is a lightweight fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje.
The victor of UFC 249's main event will be crowned interim lightweight champion and earn a unification fight with the division's undisputed ruler, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Both Ferguson and Gaethje, 36 and 31 respectively, are expected to take home the biggest guaranteed purses of their respective careers.
But how much exactly will the in-form lightweights, who are on 12 and three-fight win streaks respectively, pocket for their showdown?
The pair's guaranteed purses have yet to be revealed by the Florida Boxing Commission.
One, however, can estimate how much both men will make going off their recent paydays.
In October 2017, Ferguson claimed the interim lightweight title with a third-round submission victory over Kevin Lee at UFC 216.
'El Cucuy' banked a cool £202,025 ($250,000) for his maiden UFC title fight and is expected to earn close to that figure for his clash with Gaethje.
The biggest UFC payday so far for former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Gaethje was the £105,000 ($130,000) he received for his first-round TKO victory over Donald Cerrone last September.
His latest purses, however, is expected to exceed £160,000 ($200,000), a figure most first-time UFC title challengers take home.
That figure, however, could be significantly larger given the fact he originally signed up to take the fight on a few week's notice.
Both Ferguson and Gaethje's disclosed will be topped up by their respective cut of pay-per-view points.
UFC 249 prize money - Tony Ferguson's last three purses
UFC 238: Ferguson vs Cerrone - Ferguson def. Cerrone via TKO (Round 2) - £121,215
UFC 229: Ferguson vs Pettis - Ferguson def. Pettis via TKO (Round 2) £121,215
UFC 216: Ferguson vs Lee - Ferguson def. Lee via submission (Round 3) - Tony Ferguson - £202,025
UFC 249 prize money: Justin Gaethje's last three purses
UFC Fight Night 135: Gaethje vs Vick - Gaethje def. Vick via KO (Round 1) - £89,000
UFC on ESPN 2: Gaethje vs Barboza - Gaethje def. Barboza via KO (Round 1) - £97,000
UFC Fight Night 158: Gaethje vs Cerrone - Gaethje def. Cerrone via TKO (Round) - £105,000
UFC 249 fight card
Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje (interim lightweight title fight)
Henry Cejudo vs Dominick Cruz (men's bantamweight title fight)
Francis Ngannou vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik (heavyweight bout)
Jeremy Stephens vs Calvin Kattar (men's featherweight bout)
Greg Hardy vs Yorgan de Castro (heavyweight bout)
Prelims
Donald Cerrone vs Anthony Pettis (welterweight bout)
Alexey Oleynik vs Fabricio Werdum (heavyweight bout)
Carla Esparza vs Michelle Waterson (women's strawweight bout)
Vicente Luque vs Niko Price (welterweight bout)
Bryce Mitchell vs Charles Rosa (men's featherweight bout)
Ryan Spann vs Sam Alvey (light-heavyweight bout)
UFC 249 Main Card odds (courtesy of OHM Bet UK)
Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje - Ferguson: 52/100 - Gaethje: 8/5
Henry Cejudo vs Dominick Cruz - Cejudo 46/100 - Cruz: 17/10
Francis Ngannou vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik - Ngannou: 4/11 - Rozenstruik: 21/10
Calvin Kattar vs Jeremy Stephen - 4/11 - Stephens: 85/40
Greg Hardy vs Yorgan De Castro - Hardy: 46/100 - De Castro: 17/10