Brock Lesnar earns basic purse of US$2.5 million at UFC 200

Brock Lesnar made a basic purse of US$2.5 million for his return to the Octagon at UFC 200 on Saturday night.

The WWE wrestling star and former UFC heavyweight champion, whose last mixed martial arts fight was in December 2011, won a unanimous decision over Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Hunt made $700,000, according to figures released Monday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Lesnar, a native of South Dakota who now spends much of his time living in Saskatchewan, will no doubt receive an even fatter paycheque for his night's work. The UFC, which does not discloses all of its bonuses, likely will give him a cut of the lucrative pay-per-view revenue.

In comparison, Lesnar's purse for his UFC 141 loss to Alistair Overeem was $400,000.

Miesha (Cupcake) Tate earned a basic purse of $500,000 in losing her bantamweight title to Amanda (The Lioness) Nunes in Saturday's main event. The Florida-based Brazilian collected $150,000 including a $50,000 performance of the night bonus. Like Lesnar, her reward is likely to be far bigger given the UFC traditionally rewards newly crowned champions.

Former middleweight champion Anderson (The Spider) Silva got a $600,000 cheque for taking a non-title fight on two days notice with light-heavyweight champion Daniel (DC) Cormier after Jon (Bones) Jones pulled out of the bout in the wake of a positive drug test. Cormier, who beat Silva via decision, collected $500,000.

Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo made $500,000, including a $100,000 win bonus, in earning a decision over former lightweight title-holder Frankie (The Answer) Edgar ($190,000).

Former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez picked up $350,000, including a $50,000 performance of the night bonus, for stopping Travis Browne ($120,000).

UFC 200 was the third of three UFC cards in Las Vegas last week.

Strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk earned $260,000 for her win over Claudio Gadelha ($150,000) on Friday's card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Challenger Eddie Alvarez made $200,000 in toppling lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos ($310,000) in the main event of Thursday's card at the same venue.

Montreal lightweight John (The Bull) Makdessi picked up $60,000, including a $30,000 win bonus, for beating Mehdi (The Sultan) Baghdad ($12,000). Mitch (Danger Zone) Clarke, a Saskatoon native who fights out of Edmonton, earned $12,000 for a submission loss to (Irish) Joe Duffy ($40,000).