Silva Makes Most Money

He survived one of the worst beatings of his career but a payday likely well in excess of US$300,000 helped ease Anderson Silva’s pain.

Silva held on to submit challenger Chael Sonnen in the fifth round of their middleweight championship bout at UFC 117 on Aug. 7 in Oakland, Calif. Silva was behind on all three scorecards before stopping Sonnen via triangle choke with less than two minutes remaining.

The Brazilian mixed martial arts star made his seventh title defence of the belt he has held for nearly four years. On top of his basic purse of $200,000, Silva picked up $120,000 in bonuses for fight and submission of the night.

Sonnen received $95,000, including his $60,000 for fight of the night.

Those figures do not tell the whole story, however. The UFC does not disclose all its bonuses and top fighters like Silva usually earn a lucrative cut of the pay-per-view revenue.

According to the California State Athletic Commission, the total ticket receipts for the event was $1,565,130. Attendance was 14,617 for the UFC’s first appearance in the Bay Area.

But Silva (27-4) didn’t emerge from the bout with Sonnen (26-11) unscathed. He is reportedly sidelined until early 2011 with cracked ribs. The athletic commission wouldn’t release the medical report from the card due to privacy laws.

Matt Hughes improved to 45-7 by choking out Ricardo Almeida (12-4) 3:15 into the first round of their welterweight bout. Hughes received a minimum of $260,000, including a $100,000 win bonus and $60,000 for the submission, for his first fight since being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in May. Almeida took home $35,000.