Song Yadong achieved a significant career milestone by defeating Henry Cejudo via technical decision at UFC Seattle, earning the event’s highest payday of $320,000, with Rob Font also receiving the same amount for his victory.
Song Yadong snagged the biggest win of his career with a technical decision over former two-division champ Henry Cejudo at UFC Seattle. Not only did he claim victory, but he also took home the heftiest payday of the event.
The Washington State Department of Licensing spilled the beans on the salaries from UFC Seattle. Through a public records request, MMA Fighting got the scoop. Song and bantamweight vet Rob Font topped the earnings list for the night.
For his main event triumph, Song pocketed $320,000—$160,000 for showing up and another $160,000 for winning. The fight ended after Cejudo couldn’t continue due to an eye poke that impaired his vision. Referee Jason Herzog called it accidental and didn’t dock any points.
With the fight reaching the end of the third round in a five-round bout, judges tallied the scorecards. Song emerged victorious via a technical decision.
Cejudo walked away with $150,000 but missed out on an extra $150,000 he could’ve earned with a win. Ouch.
Rob Font also made bank, raking in $320,000 for his split decision win over Jean Matsumoto on the main card. He earned $160,000 to show and another $160,000 to win. Quite a haul!
Here’s a quick rundown of the full paydays from UFC Seattle:
- Song Yadong: $320,000 — $160,000 to show, $160,000 to win
- Henry Cejudo: $150,000
- Anthony Hernandez: $144,000 — $72,000 to show, $72,000 to win
- Brendan Allen: $210,000
- Rob Font: $320,000 — $160,000 to show, $160,000 to win
- Jean Matsumoto: $26,000
And it goes on… Jean Silva nabbed $90K while Melsik Baghdasaryan took home a modest $35K. Alonzo Menifield? A cool $240K. Not too shabby!
Ion Cutelaba bagged $190K—half for showing up and half for winning. Meanwhile, Ibo Aslan collected 35 grand.
Melquizael Costa earned himself $48K. Andre Fili? A solid 110 grand in his pocket.
Ricky Simon cashed in at $160K—$80K just for showing up! Javid Basharat left with 30 grand.
That’s not all! Austin Vanderford got $30K while Nikolay Veretennikov pocketed 12 grand. Nursulton Ruziboev scored 74 big ones!
Eric McConico? Just 12 grand. Modestas Bukauskas landed a tidy sum of 96 grand. Raffael Cerqueira rounded it off with a humble 10 grand.
Phew! That’s quite the financial roller coaster at UFC Seattle!