UFC 302 Payout for Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa; Salary and Estimated Earnings for Co-Main Event

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland will fight #7 ranked Paulo Costa this Saturday. Their UFC 302 co-main event bout has clear title shot implications, with the winner at the most, one step (possibly a title eliminator against the winner of the upcoming Robert Whittaker vs. Khamzat Chimaev bout) from fighting for the 185-pound crown.

And it looks to be a banger. At their press conference, both men expressed their desire to go to war and bleed for the fans. And given both men’s striking-first approach to fighting and willingness to go toe-to-toe with their opponents, there is a good chance they will redeem their pledge. And ahead of their UFC 302 clash, let us take a look at how much Costa and Strickland are likely to get paid for it.

How much will Sean Strickland make at UFC 302?

While it is unknown how much Strickland (or indeed anyone on UFC 302) will make for his Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey bout against ‘Borrachinha’, a report from the news outlet ‘NY Fighting’ suggests he may get $500k for the bout as base pay.

However, this seems to be belied by a tweet Sean Strickland sent out in April blasting the Dana White-led promotion for how much they offered him to fight Costa. “Out of curiosity… what do you guys think I was offered to fight Costa on 7 weeks’ notice? Base contract…”

To which one of his Twitter followers guessed  “$200 show, $200 win and $10K fight week incentive” suggesting ‘Tarzan’ would get $200k base pay if he makes weight as well as a $10k incentive, plus $200k win bonus if he defeats the Brazilian. To which Strickland responded with “Close but less lol.”

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This would suggest that Strickland is getting paid less than $200k to make weight and no pay-per-view points. In addition, all fighters are given Compliance Pay for adhering to the promotion’s apparel, media engagement, and fighter conduct guidelines, which, based on his UFC 298 purse would be less than $50k.

How much is Paulo Costa likely to make for UFC 302?

Paulo Costa is coming off a tough but valiant loss to Robert Whittaker at their UFC 298 clash in January. Despite the ultimate result, the Brazilian won a lot of admiration and praise for his three-round battle with the former champion. Which is why he is on track to fight for the title if he can defeat Strickland.

For his epic clash against Whittaker, ‘Borrachinha’ was paid $250k base, which we know courtesy of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), one of the few jurisdictions that publicly discloses some parts of the fighters’ purse (except for PPV points, and Compliance Pay, etc.).

For his next fight, the Brazilian will probably make around that same amount, with his Compliance pay and other miscellaneous payments taking his base pay to $300k or thereabouts. As always, these figures are only estimates based upon various factors and are not definite until confirmed by disclosures from the promotion or the fighters. What are your predictions for UFC 302?