Conor McGregor’s $3 Million Purse For UFC 202 Was Triple the Initial Agreement

While Conor McGregor earned $3 million for his rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202, the initial agreement was much lower. MMAjunkie reports that it was revealed during Monday’s NSAC disciplinary hearing on McGregor’s water bottle-throwing incident leading up to the fight that McGregor earned a $3 million show purse for the fight.

McGregor’s attorney Jennifer Goldstein told the NSAC that “The initial agreement was for $1 million,” asking the commission to consider that initial amount in deciding how much McGregor should be fined in response to his role in the press conference scuffle with Diaz. As of now, there’s no confirmed information as to why McGregor’s payday tripled.

NSAC Chairman Anthony Marnell refused to consider the disclosure of the lower original agreement, saying that he was only concerned about McGregor’s official payday of $3 million. Goldstein’s argument was that considering the higher price could lead to further changes in how fighters are paid, saying, “I think the complication with that lies when you have fighters that are compensated in different ways, and what we are going find, I think, perhaps, is that when more money in the show becomes subject to discipline, then that money’s going to be reallocated to bonus, appearance, name and likeness releases, etc. What I’d like for the commission to consider is the ramifications that would have on fighter compensation going forward.”

Ultimately, the decision was made to McGregor 5% of the $3 million purse, or $150,000.