UFC 287 payout discrepancy: Champion Alex Pereira to make half of Israel Adesanya's purse
UFC 287 is set to go down later this weekend with the highly anticipated Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira as the main event.
The two will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers, having fought each other twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. As far as the outcome of their bouts goes, Alex Pereira has won all three bouts, two of which were by knockout.
The rivalry continues SATURDAY!
Only two days left until @AlexPereiraUFC and @Stylebender square off again at #UFC287🔥 https://t.co/O2aWZjbMyd
It's safe to say that Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya have had arguably the most storied rivalry the UFC has ever seen. Regardless of how their rivalry closes out at UFC 287, the two are set to walk away significantly richer. However, as per recent reports, there is a huge gap between the pay of the two fighters.
According to The Sports Daily, Alex Pereira is estimated to be earning a base pay of $500,000 for his bout at UFC 287. On top of that, 'Poatan' will earn $42,000 as incentives. On the flipside, Israel Adesanya is estimated to earn a base pay of a whopping $1 million along with an incentive pay of $32,000.
It is worth noting that the discrepancy in the pay-out for Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya is major because 'Poatan' is relatively new to the company and probably does not attract as many eyeballs as 'The Last Stylebender'.
Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira: 'Poatan' believes Adesanya is making a mistake with immediate UFC 287 rematch
As mentioned earlier, 'The Last Stylebender' lost his middleweight strap to his long-time rival Alex Pereira back at UFC 281. While Adesanya could've gone out and had a few fights before fighting for the title again, he opted for an immediate rematch instead.
The same seems to be why Alex Pereira believes Adesanya made a mistake. According to 'Poatan', it wasn't wise of the former middleweight champion to seek an immediate rematch despite suffering three losses against him. The Brazilian had this to say during the UFC 287 media day:
"If he was on my team, I would tell him, ‘Man, don’t do this fight now.' He’s had a brilliant career but he saw there’s no success against me, so I would definitely advise him against doing this fight now. Fight once or twice, and then come back and try again.”
Catch Alex Pereira's comments below: