UFC 251 prize money: How much will Usman, Masvidal, Volkanovski and co earn?
UFC 251 took place on Saturday night but how much did the fighters earn? Express Sport is on hand with the prize money and purses.
UFC 251: Kamaru Usman on 'tough' opponent Jorge Masvidal
UFC 251 served up a great night of entertainment on Fight Island as three title fights took place. Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman ground out a decision victory over Jorge Masvidal to keep his belt, while Alexander Volkanovski retained his featherweight crown with a split-decision win over Max Holloway.
Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman ground out a decision victory over Jorge Masvidal to keep his belt, and Alexander Volkanovski retained his featherweight title with a split decision victory over Max Holloway at the UFC 251 event in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
With Masvidal taking the fight on six days' notice after Gilbert Burns was forced to pull out after testing positive for the new coronavirus, Usman used his wrestling skills to wear down the challenger over five rounds.
"All these guys, they're preparing for one guy, and that's me, at the top of the mountain, and I had to make a mental shift," Usman said after the fight.
"Masvidal is tough, and he showed it out there."
In the co-main event Australian Volkanovski, who won the featherweight belt from Holloway via unanimous decision in December, found himself behind early on, after he was knocked down at the end of each of the first two rounds.
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The former rugby league player dug deep, relying more on his wrestling and doing just enough over the final three rounds to edge out the Hawaiian on the judges' scorecards and remain unbeaten in the UFC.
In the card's other title fight, Russia's Petr Jan scored a brutal technical knockout over Brazilian Jose Aldo to claim the bantamweight title left vacant by the retirement of previous champion Henry Cejudo.
Dropping down a weight class, Aldo held his own but wilted in the fourth round, and the Russian dominated him with ground strikes in the fifth until the referee waved the fight off, declaring Yan the winner by TKO.
Two fighters will have their purses cut after missing weight for their UFC 251 contests.
Raulian Paiva, who beat Zhalgas Zhumagulov, missed weight and will be fined 20 per cent of his purse.
Vanessa Melo, who lost out to Karol Rosa, also missed weight and receives a 30 per cent purse fine.
UFC 251 purses
(Figures from Sportekz, not including bonuses)
Main Card
Kamaru Usman $500,000
Jorge Masvidal $350,000
Alexander Volkanovski $250,000
Max Holloway $300,000
Petr Yan $70,000
Jose Aldo $300,000
Jessica Andrade $105,000
Rose Namajunas $100,000
Amanda Ribas $24,000
Paige VanZant $60,000
Preliminary Card
Volkan Oezdemir $90,000
Jiri Prochazka $12,000
Muslim Salikhov $14,000
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos $26,000
Makwan Amirkhani $22,000
Danny Henry $16,000
Leonardo Santos $24,000
Roman Bogatov $12,000
Early Prelims
Marcin Tybura $68,000
Maxim Grishin $12,000
Raulian Paiva $12,000
Zhalgas Zhumagulov $12,000
Karol Rosa $12,000
Vanessa Melo $12,000
Davey Grant $14,000
Martin Day $12,000