Dubai: When Khabib Nurmagomedov overwhelmed Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, little did he known that he was in for a massive ‘payout,’ which was one of the biggest that the UFC have paid the Russian champion.
It is estimated that Khabib earned a career-high $6.76 million for his win and also recived additional payments off $50,000 for Performance of the Night bonus and $52,000 for fight week incentive pay. The total will increase even more once Pay-per-view numbers are announced.
Justin Gaethje is believed to have earned £$ 550,000 as a fight purse as the loser.
UFC president Dana White had revealed earlier last week that UFC 254 was set to become to become the biggest selling pay-per-view event in the UFC’s history.
Khabib’s staggering paycheck has totally eclipsed the £2.3m that Connor McGregor earned at UFC 228 in October 2019 when he fought the Russian, who on that occasion earned £1.5m.
Khabib has time and again said that money does not impress him and has reiterated his commitment to charity and even said that should the UFC offer him £5 billion to coach against McGregor in the Ultimate Fighter series, he would turn it down.
