Adesanya to earn $1.7m from Whittaker win

Last updated Feb 14, 2022

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya earned a whopping $1.7m from his unanimous decision victory over archrival Robert Whittaker at the Toyota Centre in Houston on Sunday, The PUNCH reports.

Adesanya was the favourite to win the fight and he showed technical superiority and poise to beat the Australian on all of the three judges’ cards: 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 to retain his title for the fourth consecutive time.

According to reports, the 32-year-old Nigerian will smile to the bank with a paycheck of $1.7m in total, while Whittaker will take home $800,000 despite his loss to Adesanya.

A breakdown of the earnings shows that Adesanya is guaranteed $1m for the fight and will also get 50 per cent of the total amount of the Pay Per View revenue and $42,000 sponsorship deal. Whittaker got $500,000 guaranteed for the fight as 50 per cent of the Pay Per View deal as well as a $32,000 sponsorship deal.

The payout is an increase on what he earned in his last fight against Marvin Vettori last year. Adesanya took home a total of $990,000 in total.

After his mouth-watering payout, Adesanya who recently signed a new contract with the UFC to become the second highest paid athlete in the franchise behind Connor McGregor, is hoping to make a return to the Octagon in June.

“I know June doesn’t have a pay-per-view yet, but like I said, I’m the new dog in the yard, I’m the big dog in the yard now. And I know the other dog, Jared Cannonier, did some work tonight.”

Punch/Nnenna.O