What Do the Disclosed Purses From Recent Events Actually Show?
State athletic commissions that still publish fight purses give the clearest public window into real numbers. At UFC 311 in January 2025, the California State Athletic Commission listed lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at $200,000 with no win bonus disclosed, challenger Renato Moicano at $250,000, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili at $500,000 with no win bonus disclosed, and Jiri Prochazka at $250,000, split as a $200,000 purse plus a $50,000 win bonus.
At UFC Atlanta in June 2025, Rose Namajunas topped the disclosed purses at $500,000, split evenly between a $250,000 show payment and a $250,000 win bonus, while prelim fighter Malcolm Wellmaker earned $24,000 after a bonus-boosted knockout win. These figures exclude undisclosed bonuses, sponsorship deals, and revenue-share arrangements, so the commission-reported number is a floor, not a ceiling, on what a fighter actually took home.
Disclosure itself is inconsistent from state to state, which is part of why these numbers get so much attention when they surface. California's commission has continued publishing purse figures after nearly every card it regulates, while other jurisdictions release partial data or none at all. That patchwork means the clearest purse numbers in circulation come disproportionately from cards held in California, Texas or a handful of other disclosing states, not from a consistent league-wide reporting standard the way major stick-and-ball leagues publish salaries.
