UFC 280 (on October 22, 2022) is a blockbuster PPV event in Dubai featuring two title fights. Former lightweight champion Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira takes on powerhouse Dagestani wrestler Islam Makhachev. Oliveira and Makhachev will be battling for the belt that Do Bronx vacated on the scale against Justin Gaethje in his last fight. The Brazilian is still considered the #1 lightweight in the world and the #3 pound for pound fighter currently. The second title fight features Aljamain Sterling defending his bantamweight strap against former champ TJ Dillashaw. After controversially capturing the belt by DQ against Petr Yan, Sterling proved he’s the real deal by defending the belt in his last bout in a rematch against Yan. Dillashaw is coming off a split decision win over Cory Sandhagen that earned him the title fight. Another highly anticipated fight on the main card features the aforementioned Petr Yan against Suga Sean O’Malley.Update: Suga Sean O’Malley won a controversial split decision over former champion Petr Yan. It was a thrilling back and forth fight with O’Malley’s striking marking up Yan’s face. It appeared as though Yan had done enough with his takedowns and ground and pound, but O’Malley got the nod. In the co-main event, Aljamain Sterling dominated TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw appeared to pop his shoulder out after a early takedown from the champion Sterling. He was able to fix the dislocated joint in between rounds but wasn’t the same after getting nearly finished in the first round. Sterling eventually poured on the ground and pound and took the fight via second round TKO. In the highly anticipated main event, Islam Mackhachev submitted former champion Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight crown. Makhachev controlled the first round with his wrestling and then knocked the brazilian down with a punch midway through the second. Makhachev jumped straight into an arm triangle and Oliveira quickly tapped to the tight squeeze. Assumptions:
Assuming Oliveria is getting PPV points based on this tween from reporter Mike Bohn
Assuming Sterling is getting PPV points since hes a champ (standard UFC policy)Assuming Oliveria and Sterling are getting paid flat salaries with no possible win bonusSolely for the purposes of salary estimation, assuming 650,000 buys based on the star power of this card. This is a best guess based on previously disclosed PPV numbers.*Note that the official payouts have not been disclosed for this fight card in Dubai so the salaries listed are based on estimates of previous contracts, trends, and drawing power. Other assumptions are made like expected contract changes. All promotional compliance pay figures are based on the formula negotiated with Venum.Total Payout for UFC 280: $6,117,000Venum (Sponsorship) Fighter payout: $279,000Performance Bonus money paid out: $200,000 ($50k Performance bonuses for Makhachev, Yan/O’Malley, and Belal Muhammad)
UFC 280 Detailed Payouts
5 Dec 2025
UFC 280 Salaries and Payouts – MMA Salaries
UFC 280 (on October 22, 2022) is a blockbuster PPV event in Dubai featuring two title fights. Former lightweight champion Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira takes on powerhouse Dagestani wrestler Islam Makhachev. Oliveira and Makhachev will be battling for the belt that Do Bronx vacated on the scale against Justin Gaethje in his last fight. The Brazilian is still considered the #1 lightweight in the world and the #3 pound for pound fighter currently. The second title fight features Aljamain Sterling defending his bantamweight strap against former champ TJ Dillashaw. After controversially capturing the belt by DQ against Petr Yan, Sterling proved he’s the real deal by defending the belt in his last bout in a rematch against Yan. Dillashaw is coming off a split decision win over Cory Sandhagen that earned him the title fight. Another highly anticipated fight on the main card features the aforementioned Petr Yan against Suga Sean O’Malley.Update: Suga Sean O’Malley won a controversial split decision over former champion Petr Yan. It was a thrilling back and forth fight with O’Malley’s striking marking up Yan’s face. It appeared as though Yan had done enough with his takedowns and ground and pound, but O’Malley got the nod. In the co-main event, Aljamain Sterling dominated TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw appeared to pop his shoulder out after a early takedown from the champion Sterling. He was able to fix the dislocated joint in between rounds but wasn’t the same after getting nearly finished in the first round. Sterling eventually poured on the ground and pound and took the fight via second round TKO. In the highly anticipated main event, Islam Mackhachev submitted former champion Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight crown. Makhachev controlled the first round with his wrestling and then knocked the brazilian down with a punch midway through the second. Makhachev jumped straight into an arm triangle and Oliveira quickly tapped to the tight squeeze. Assumptions:
Assuming Oliveria is getting PPV points based on this tween from reporter Mike Bohn
Assuming Sterling is getting PPV points since hes a champ (standard UFC policy)Assuming Oliveria and Sterling are getting paid flat salaries with no possible win bonusSolely for the purposes of salary estimation, assuming 650,000 buys based on the star power of this card. This is a best guess based on previously disclosed PPV numbers.*Note that the official payouts have not been disclosed for this fight card in Dubai so the salaries listed are based on estimates of previous contracts, trends, and drawing power. Other assumptions are made like expected contract changes. All promotional compliance pay figures are based on the formula negotiated with Venum.Total Payout for UFC 280: $6,117,000Venum (Sponsorship) Fighter payout: $279,000Performance Bonus money paid out: $200,000 ($50k Performance bonuses for Makhachev, Yan/O’Malley, and Belal Muhammad)
UFC 280 Detailed Payouts