Top 10 MMA Pound-for-Pound Fighters Per Dollar

Correspondent Written on August 11, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: Anderson Silva (R) throws a right punch to Forrest Griffin during their light heavyweight bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

To put an end to endless discussion to pound-for-pound lists, I have created a list based on the real value of a fighter. It is based on the amount he gets paid, which corresponds to the number of butts in the seats.

Before we get to the list, I would like to mention a few fighters who did not make the list.

Let's start with WEC:

Fighters like Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres make only around 25K per fight, so they are far, far away from top 10.

Lyoto Machida only made only 140K in UFC 98, so the Karate Chopper did not make the cut either.

And finally, Anderson Silva comes in at No. 11, based on the Fight Night 14 salary of 200K. So unless he made substantially more in UFC 101, he is not making the cut.

Let's get ready to see who the "real" pound-for-pound kingpins are!

10: Randy Couture, $1,081.08 per pound

LOS ANGELES - APRIL 7: Wrestler Randy Couture arrives at a special screening of Sony Pictures Classics' 'Redbelt' at the Egyptian Theatre on April 7, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Captain America's last valiant, yet losing, effort against Brock Lesnar brought in $250,000.

9: Matt Hughes, $1,176.47 per pound

LONDON - JULY 13: Matt Hughes of the USA and current Welterweight Champion celebrates his win over Carlos Newton of Canada during the Ultimate Fighting Championship, 'Brawl in the Royal Albert Hall', in the Royal Albert Hall London, England on July 13, 2

His decision victory against Matt Serra in UFC 98 brought in $200,000.

8: Fedor, $1,298.70 per pound

NEW YORK - JANUARY 20: Heavyweight mixed martial arts champion Fedor 'The Last Emperor' Emelianenko of Russia attends the 'Day of Reckoning' press conference at Trump Tower January 20, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Joe Corrigan/Getty Images)

I know you all are going to cry bloody murder for Fedor being so low on the spot, but those millions said to have been paid are just rumors.

This article is based on pure facts. And the fact is that Fedor's disclosed salary in Affliction was $300,000.

So unless someone shows me a check that Fedor received with a bigger amount, he is not going to move higher on this list (if he wanted to do that he would need to join UFC anyway).

7: Dan Henderson, $1,351.35 per pound

INGLEWOOD, CA - MARCH 17: Champion fighter Dan 'Hollywood' Henderson attends the IFL Fight Night at The Forum on March 17, 2007 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for IFL)

His vicious KO at UFC 100 brought in a nice quarter of a million.

6: Brock Lesnar, $1,509.43 per pound

LAS VEGAS - JULY 11: Brock Lesnar reacts after knocking out Frank Mir during their heavyweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Even though he is one of the highest paid athletes in UFC with $400,000 for mauling Mir, he is a bit low on the list because of his size (400K divided by 265 pounds).

5: Quinton Jackson, $1,585.37 per pound

LAS VEGAS - JANUARY 24: Mixed martial arts fighter Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson arrives at the world premiere of the movie 'Rambo' at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino January 24, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film opens nationwide in the United States

Rampage consistently brings in $325,000 as in his last bout at UFC 96.

4: BJ Penn, $1,612.90 per pound

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08: (L-R) Lightweight champion BJ Penn battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Ge

BJ usually gets paid $125,000 to fight and $125,000 to win.

3: Frank Shamrock, $1,998.86 per pound

Believe or not, but he got paid $369,790 for his loss against Nick Diaz.

2: Kimbo Slice, $2,127.66 per pounds

STUDIO CITY, CA - MAY 19: MMA fighter Kimbo Slice attends CBS's 'Elite XC Saturday Night Fights' Press Conference at CBS Radford Studios on May 19, 2008 in Studio City, California. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)

For putting butts in the seats, he got paid a cool $500,000 by EliteXC.

1: Georges St. Pierre, $2,352.94

LAS VEGAS - JULY 11: Georges St. Pierre celebrates his victory against Thiago Alves during their welterweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. St. Pierre defeated Alves by unanimous decision. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty

And finally, the pound-for-pound king GSP gets paid $400,000 per fight, which makes one pound of Canadian the most expensive fighter meat in the market.

*****Filet Mignon!!!

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written on August 11, 2009 Humor

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