UFC Mexico payouts: How much will Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, Brian Ortega, and others make at the event? Estimated figures reported
The highly-anticipated UFC Mexico City event will transpire at the Arena CDMX, in Mexico City, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2024. Its headlining bout has former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno taking on former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval in a rematch. 'The Assassin Baby' previously beat Royval via first-round TKO in November 2020.
The event's co-headliner would see a rematch between former interim UFC featherweight titleholder Yair Rodriguez and former UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega. Their first showdown, in July 2022, ended with Rodriguez winning via first-round TKO after Ortega sustained a shoulder injury.
As per The Sports Daily, Yair Rodriguez would top the list of the highest-paid athletes on the UFC Mexico City fight card. Coming in second will be Brandon Moreno, while Brian Ortega will bag the third spot. Brandon Royval will be the fourth highest-paid athlete, whereas Raoni Barcelos will take the fifth spot.
The event's total payout is likely to be approximately $1.2 Million, which includes salaries, incentives, and bonuses. Speaking of the incentives, the total incentive payout at the event would be $147,500.
One ought to note that the report provides estimates of the UFC Mexico salaries and that these figures haven't been officially confirmed by the UFC.
Besides, the incentive pay is drawn from the UFC's official sportswear sponsor, Venum, which pays fighters on a tiered basis. According to the pay structure, a fighter gets paid progressively greater amounts as their tenure with the UFC organization increases.
The total tenure includes that of fighters who competed in the post-UFC buyout Strikeforce fights (April 2011 onwards) and the post-UFC buyout WEC fights (January 2007 onwards).
It's been reported that Yair Rodriguez would take home a base pay of $250,000, incentive pay of $11,000, and a guaranteed total pay of $261,000. Additionally, for Brandon Moreno, those figures would be $200,000, $16,000, and $216,000, respectively.
As for Brian Ortega, he'll secure $150,000 as base pay, $11,000 in incentives, and $161,000 as his guaranteed total pay. For Brandon Royval, those statistics would be $100,000, $6,000, and $106,000. Furthermore, Raoni Barcelos would receive $60,000, $11,000, and $71,000, respectively.
UFC Mexico salaries: Top earning MMA stars head into the event eyeing world title shots
Yair Rodriguez's most recent fight witnessed him fail to capture the UFC featherweight title, as he suffered a third-round TKO defeat against then-featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in July 2023. Meanwhile, Brian Ortega's last fight was his clash against Rodriguez in July 2022, which ended in a TKO loss to 'T-City.'
The consensus is that a win for either fighter in their rematch could catapult them right back into the title picture. It'll possibly put them on a collision course with reigning UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria later this year.
On the other hand, Brandon Moreno is coming off a razor-thin split decision defeat against current UFC flyweight kingpin Alexandre Pantoja in July 2023. Moreover, Brandon Royval's latest fight was a unanimous decision loss against Pantoja in December 2023.
It's believed that a victory at UFC Mexico City would surely help the victorious flyweight earn another matchup against Pantoja for UFC flyweight gold.