It has been revealed that former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, took home a whopping $500,000 as salary after his fight with Leon Edwards at UFC 278. This information was disclosed by Pete Suazo, Utah Athletic Commission head Scott Bowler, who oversaw the event. 

Usman lost his title to Edwards after a knockout in the fifth round. But while he may have lost his title in that fight, Usman received the biggest cheque of the night. 

That’s right, Usman received more money than Edwards, the winner of the fight and the new welterweight champion. The Jamaican-British fighter received $350,000. 

Of course, the money received has nothing to do with who won but who the bigger fighter was, and Kamaru Usman is a big name in the sport. No doubt, his presence in the fixture would have influenced ticket sales and subscriptions compared to Edwards. The $500,000 received by Usman is just the base salary and does not take into account certain sponsorship incomes, pay-per-view bonuses, or discretionary post-fight bonuses, which would not be disclosed. 

But with the win, Edwards is sure to receive a bigger payout in his next match, especially if he lands another impressive victory like he did against Usman. As the current welterweight champion, his next fight would come with all sorts of deals that would see him leave the ring with a bigger paycheck than UFC 278. 

As for Usman, while the title loss may be significant, it might not hurt his standing in the sport. Except he is fighting Edwards next, his night fight would not be a title match, but one can still expect that he would manage to generate the hype and still pull a crowd ahead of it. Although, for now, there is no word on who he could face next or if there would be a rematch with Edward, Usman promised, after the loss, that he would come back stronger. 

Leon Osamor