UFC 246 prize money: How much will Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone earn for Vegas clash?
UFC 246 prize money - Express Sport provides some insight into how much Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone will earn for their UFC 246 showdown.
McGregor says he feels ‘fully prepared’ ahead of Cerrone match
The first UFC pay-per-view card of the year takes place early on Sunday morning, with the promotion bringing out their biggest star possible to kick start 2020. UFC 246, which takes place at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, will be headlined by none other than former two-division champion Conor McGregor.
McGregor will be welcomed back to the Octagon by a familiar face for casual and avid mixed martial arts fans, Donald Cerrone.
The pair’s clash - which has been over four years in the making - will be a welterweight contest, which is a surprising given McGregor’s eagerness to get back into the lightweight title picture.
McGregor, 31, will be fighting for the first time since his UFC 229 bout with Khabib Nurmagomeodov in October 2018, which brought him the biggest payday of his mixed martial arts career.
The Irishman’s guaranteed purse for his grudge match with his successor at the summit of the lightweight division was a huge £2.3million (£3million), one of the largest in UFC history.
Express Sport is reporting live from Las Vegas in association with Ohmbet UK, the UK’s No.1 MMA Sportsbook. For the latest UFC 246 fight odds and more click here.
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But it’s understood his purse for his bout with ‘Cowboy’ will significantly dwarf his payday for his unsuccessful bid to reclaim the lightweight title.
The Nevada State Athletic will officially reveal McGregor’s purse on Friday evening, though it’s understood his latest paycheque will be a whopping £3.8million ($5million).
Fan favourite Cerrone is also in line to pocket the biggest payday of his career, with it being reported he’ll take home £1.5million ($2million).
The disparity between McGregor and Cerrone’s purses comes as no surprise as the former is the promotion’s poster boy and played a significant role in the company being sold for £3.2billion ($4billion) in July 2016.
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It’s worth noting both men’s final disclosed purses will be significantly topped up by their respective cuts of the pay-per-view revenue.
And given McGregor’s long history of pulling in a million plus pay-per-view buys, his and Cerrone’s purses will end up being a lot larger than first forecast.
McGregor’s clash with ‘Cowboy’ will be his first outing in over 15 months. The Dubliner is hoping to return to his active ways this year, setting his sights on three Octagon outings.
He told the MacLife: “For me, I’m in my old frame of mind. I just want consistency. I want competition. It’s what I love to do. To be in that healthy state of mind and my body also. That’s it. Whoever, wherever.”
UFC 246: McGregor vs Cerrone fight card
Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone - lightweight bout
Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington - men’s bantamweight bout
Maurice Greene vs Aleksei Oleinik - heavyweight bout
Claudia Gadelha vs Alexa Grasso - women’s strawweight bout
Diego Ferreira vs Anthony Pettis - lightweight bout
Prelims
Maycee Barber vs Roxanne Modafferi - women’s flyweight bout
Andre Fili vs Sodiq Yusuff - men’s featherweight bout
Drew Dober vs Nasrat Haqparast - lightweight bout
Grant Dawson vs Chas Skelly - men’s featherweight bout
JJ Aldrich vs Sabina Mazo - women’s flyweight bout
Askar Askarov vs Tim Elliott - men’s flyweight bout
Brian Kelleher vs Ode Osbourne - men’s bantamweight bout
Aleksa Camur vs Justin Ledet - light-heavyweight bout
UFC 246 Purses
Conor McGregor: £2.3million ($3 million) (no win bonus)
Donald Cerrone: £154,000 ($200,000) to show, £154,000 ($200,000) to win
Holly Holm: £115,000 ($150,000) to show, £38,000 ($50,000) to win
Raquel Pennington: £48,000 ($63,000) to show, £48,000 ($63,000) to win
Alexey Oleynik: £57,000 ($75,000) to show, £57,000 ($75,000) to win
Maurice Greene: £23,000 ($30,000) to show, £23,000 ($30,000) to win
Anthony Pettis: £119,00 ($155,000) to show, £119,000 ($155,000) to win
Diego Ferreira: £38,000 ($50,000) to show, £38,000 ($50,000) to win