Is Chuck Liddell still ufc's top draw?

Question

With his recent win loss record, is chuck still the biggest ticket draw in ufc and furthermore, is he still the top earner per fight, in mma.

Answer 1

Chuck is probably the biggest draw in UFC currently - he's still the most recognized name (along with Couture) but there are some fighters that are coming along quickly - Anderson Silva for example.  The UFC crowd is so mixed - some old school fight fans and tons and tons of new fight fans - by-and-large they have a short memory, and payouts are negotiated fight by fight (bonuses are negotiated separately from contracts.)  So top earners change fast in the UFC.

The last fight I remember Chuck got $500k from UFC plus his sponsors and bonuses so he probably got $6-800K total for the fight.

Put that against what Tim Sylvia got for Affliction Banned - $800k...plus sponsors and bonuses (I hope he didn't get a bonus for that crappy performance).  With sponsorship deals, it's more like a million bucks for 30 seconds.  So there are higher paid fighters than Chuck for sure.  Andre Arlovski got $750k for his Affliction fight for example.

Then you have to consider the sponsors - Anderson Silva is today's poster boy for MMA - he is all over the cover of catalogs, magazines, t-shirt websites, nutrition supplements, all that c**p...so his sponsors pay him whenever he does ANYTHING - signings, weigh-ins, etc.  He probably makes as much as Chuck right now, maybe more due to sponsor deals and UFC bonuses.

It changes fast though, so tomorrow the top earner could be Forrest Griffin...who knows?!

Answer 2

id go with rampage or wanderlai

these guys are extremely popular with the women

and casual fight fans as well.

Answer 3

Chuck is on that stuff bad.