This past November there was a ton of speculation regarding the main event of UFC 230. For quite some time the Madison Square Garden show was without a featured bout. Until a fight for the vacant women’s flyweight championship was announced to headline the card. This was met with uproar from mixed martial arts (MMA) fans online, who deemed a bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks unfit to main event a card of that magnitude.
The UFC then shuffled the deck and landed a big heavyweight title showdown. Champion Daniel Cormier defended his title against “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis. Cormier had just fought that past July, defeating Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. But the UFC threw an offer “DC’s” way that he couldn’t turn down. On a recent edition of UFC commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan stated he heard Cormier made $4 million for the fight:
Listening back to Joe Rogan's recent podcast with Brendan Schaub and they were addressing Daniel Cormier's future — and Joe mentions that DC made $4 million for his fight against Derrick Lewis.
Not sure if that's 100% accurate but that's a nice payday if so.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) January 21, 2019
I know he got a hefty pay increase to accept that fight on short notice so I believe it's possible.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) January 21, 2019
Professional wrestling and MMA journalist Dave Meltzer also reports that Cormier was paid $4 million for the UFC 230 fight. In October, when interviewed prior to the contest, Cormier discussed the offer the UFC made to him to compete on the card:
“There was no way I could say no, honestly.”
Cormier also said he suffered a bad back injury after sneezing before the fight. He considered pulling out, but ultimately decided not to. Given the size of his paycheck, we now know why he likely didn’t.
What do you think about Cormier getting paid $4 million for UFC 230?
