Despite losing 20 percent of his purse after failing to make the middleweight division's 186-pound limit, Wilson Gouveia was the top earner at "The Ultimate Fighter 8" finale.
The evening's salary figures were released overnight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to Sherdog.com.
The total payroll for the event, which took place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, was $289,000.
Gouveia earned $36,800 in his first-round win over Jason MacDonald. The total included a purse penalty of $9,200. MacDonald took home $35,200 after the payout from his opponent.
The evening's 16 participating cast members earned base salaries of $8,000. Winners of the eight bouts between TUF 8 participants also earned an $8,000 bonus. Season champions Efrain Escudero and Ryan Bader also earned coveted "six-figure contracts" with the UFC.
The full paydays from The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale included:
Efrain Escudero: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Phillipe Nover: $8,000
Ryan Bader: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Vinny Magalhaes: $8,000
Wilson Gouveia: $36,800 (includes $18,400 win bonus)
def. Jason MacDonald: $35,200 (includes $9,200 of Gouveia's purse)
Anthony Johnson: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
def. Kevin Burns: $7,000
Junie Browning: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Dave Kaplan: $8,000
Krzysztof Soszynski: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Shane Primm: $8,000
Eliot Marshall: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Jules Bruchez: $8,000
Shane Nelson: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. George Roop: $8,000
Tom Lawlor: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. Kyle Kingsbury: $8,000
Roli Delgado: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
def. John Polakowski: $8,000
As always, the figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker-room" or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays.
In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.
They also do not include UFC "fight night" awards issued after each event. For Saturday's event, those awards amounted to $25,000 each. Anthony Johnson earned the Knockout of the Night bonus, Krzysztof Soszynski picked up the Submission of the Night award, and a lightweight bout between Junie Browning and Dave Kaplan netted each competitor a Fight of the Night bonus.
