DC Just Let Slip That Pereira Is the Only Fighter Making $10 Million on Sunday

Daniel Cormier was interviewing Alex Pereira during fight week and accidentally dropped a number he probably wasn't supposed to share.

"Ay, he's the only one fighting at the White House making $10 million, not me."

Cormier said it casually while trying to get Pereira to bet $20,000 on something. The context was light but the number was not.

$10 million for one fighter on a seven fight card that the UFC is spending $60 million to produce.

The Math Nobody Wants to Do

Pereira is making $10 million on Sunday. He's happy with it. Signed a new eight fight deal with the UFC and has said publicly that he's content with his contract so good for him. The man deserves to get paid.

But DC specifically said Pereira is the ONLY one making that kind of money on the card. Which means Topuria, the undisputed lightweight champion headlining the event, is making less than $10 million. Gaethje is making less. Gane is making less. O'Malley, Chandler, Nickal, Hokit, Lopes, all of them bro. Less than $10 million on the "greatest card in UFC history."

Now put that next to the other numbers we already know.

The UFC is spending $60 million on production. Sixty million on the venue, the claw, the screens, the security, the infrastructure. The UFC is paying six times more for the BUILDING than they're paying their highest paid fighter.

The CEO made $67 million last year. One executive. One year. Almost seven times what the best paid fighter on the biggest card is earning.

Jon Jones was offered $15 million for this card and called it a lowball. The GOAT said $15 million wasn't enough. And the fighter who replaced him on the card is making $5 million less than what Jones rejected.

Hearn told Dana that Aspinall could make three times more outside the UFC. If Aspinall were on this card instead of recovering from eye surgery, what would he be making? Based on DC's comment, probably less than $10 million. For the undisputed heavyweight champion.

What $10 Million Buys the UFC

Here's the thing. Pereira is the most reliable star the UFC has right now. He fights constantly. He finishes people. He chases history. He moved up to heavyweight voluntarily. He's attempting to become the first three division champion in UFC history on Sunday at the White House. And he does all of it without complaining about money publicly.

For $10 million the UFC gets a fighter who headlines their biggest card, generates highlights every time he competes, never pulls out of fights, and is currently chasing something that's never been done in the sport. That's a bargain and the UFC knows it.

Pereira knows it too. He's happy with the deal because $10 million is life changing money, especially for a guy who came from working class São Paulo and was kickboxing for a fraction of that five years ago. But "life changing for the fighter" and "fair relative to the revenue" are two completely different conversations.

The Quiet Part Out Loud

DC wasn't trying to make a statement. He was joking around during an interview and the number came out naturally. That's actually what makes it significant. It wasn't a fighter complaining about pay. It wasn't a journalist investigating contracts. It was a former champion casually acknowledging what everyone in the sport already knows but nobody with a UFC microphone is supposed to say.

One fighter making eight figures. Everyone else making less. On a card costing $60 million to produce. For a company whose CEO makes $67 million annually.

DC said the quiet part out loud. And then kept the interview moving like he didn't just confirm everything the fighter pay conversation has been about all year.

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