$26M Payout After UFC 302 Confirmed as Dana White Gives Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier Headlined Card Fighters Their Compliance Pay

The UFC has been on a roll with its PPVs being a massive success. The same was the case with UFC 302. People rallied to see Islam Makhachev versus Dustin Poirier, Sean Strickland versus Paulo Costa, and other nail-biting bouts at the Prudential Center in NJ. But a successful event also means good payouts for the fighters.

But for a minute, let’s backtrack to UFC 300. It saw massive bonuses at the request of both media personnel and his BMF contenders. While UFC 302 saw comparatively lesser numbers, it cannot be deemed meager. It seems like Dana White has learned from the past and despite the still massive disparity between payouts for boxers and wrestlers in other promotions, he is no longer holding back. According to Yahoo Sports, the UFC promotional guidelines compliance pay for the PPV totaled $281,500.

This program supposedly includes outfitting requirements, a fighter code of conduct, media appearance obligations, and other rules. This made the main card gain the most payout. Makhachev received $42,000, and Poirier received $32,000. Apart from that, Sean Strickland got paid $21,000, and Paulo Costa received $6,000.

Now, how are these financial payouts decided? The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pays according to the fighter’s total number of UFC bouts, the Zuffa-era WEC fights, and the Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts. The guidelines were revised in 2021.

So after totaling the amount that Makhachev and Poirier’s main card received, it comes to a hefty total. Other fighters who got a payout are as follows:

• Kevin Holland: $21,000; Michal Oleksiejczuk: $11,000
• Niko Price: $6,000; Alex Morono: $21,000
• Randy Brown: $16,000; Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos: $11,000
• Roman Kopylov: $6,000; Cesar Almeida: $4,000
• Grant Dawson: $11,000 def. Joe Solecki: $6,000
• Jailton Almeida: $6,000; Alexander Romanov: $6,000
• Jake Matthews: $16,000 def. Philip Rowe: $6,000
• Bassil Hafez: $4,000 def. Mickey Gall: $11,000
• Ailin Perez: $4,500; Joselyne Edwards: $6,000
• Andre Lima: $4,000 def. Mitch Raposo: $4,000

Since the program was started, the UFC has paid a total of $26,001,500 in compliance pay.

• 2024 (January till date): $3,264,500
• 2023 total compliance pay: $8,188,000
• 2022 total compliance pay: $8,351,500
• 2021 total compliance pay: $6,167,500

Now coming back to UFC 302, the fight between Makhachev and Poirier was one of the most competitive fights. The 32-year-old indeed retained the title, but not without gashes bedside his eye and forehead, as Poirier fought valiantly in what was supposed to be his last shot at the title. Nonetheless, Makhachev extended his streak to 14 wins and rightfully earned a worthy reward from Dana White.

Dana White was impressed by Islam Makhachev!

The UFC head honcho sat down for the post-fight conference and said, “The fight of the night was Islam and Poirier. The performers of the night were Holland and Islam. They all won $50,000; congratulations! Islam won 100,000.”

And according to Jed I. Goodman on X, UFC 302 broke a huge record as well. They shared that Jon Anik stated, “tonight’s gate is north of $7 million. That’s the highest rate for a UFC event in Newark.” Apart from good news for White, it was also a huge deal for Islam Makhachev because not only did he make his coach and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov proud, he became an undisputed champion.

The Dagestani proved why he is the best in the division, despite the lack of confidence from White in his P4P no. 1 ranking. Now the Dagestani protégé wants to become a two-division champion, and maybe this win will fuel his dream more. Makhachev even shared his next big goal in the post-fight conference, and now he has his eyes set on the welterweight division.

Do you think moving to the welterweight division is a good idea for him? Let us know in the comments below.