Former champion Anderson Silva makes at least $800,000 for UFC 183 win

TORONTO – Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva made a basic purse of US$800,000 for his comeback win over Nick Diaz at UFC 183 on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Silva, who had been out more than a year with a badly broken leg, earned $600,000 with an additional win bonus of $200,000 according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Diaz collected $500,000.

The purse figures do not tell the whole financial story since the UFC does not detail all of its bonus payments. Silva, who likely also earned a cut of the lucrative pay-per-view revenue, will have made far more.

Middleweight Thales Leites was another big winner Saturday in Las Vegas. He picked up $148,000 for his submission victory over Tim (The Barbarian) Boetsch. That includes a $24,000 win bonus and a combined $100,000 for fight of the night and performance of the night.

Boetch made $102,000 including his fight of the night bonus.

Welterweight Thiago Alves collected $134,000, including a $50,000 performance bonus, for his KO of Jordan Mein of Lethbridge, Alta. Mein made $22,000.

Welterweight Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley earned $139,000 for his co-main event win over Kelvin Gastelum ($21,000). Gastelum’s basic purse was slated to be $30,000 but he forfeited $9,000 to his opponent after failing to make weight. Woodley said in his post-fight interview that he did not want Gastelum’s money.