Welterweight veterans Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards and Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Edwards will be looking to settle their scores once and for all in their trilogy fight scheduled for March 18th, 2023 at the O2 arena in London for the main event of UFC 286.
Leon Edwards amassed an impressive 9-fight winning streak following his first title fight loss against Kamaru back on December 19th, 2015. In the leadup to his second shot at the title, the Jamaican defeated the likes of Vicente Luque, Bryan Barberena, Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, Rafael Dos Anjos, and Nate Diaz.
The 170 lb strap is not the only prize at stake for this fight. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was clean sweeping the division with a record 15-fight win streak but ‘Rocky’ was the one to serve the monumental loss in UFC 278 back on 20th August 2022. Should Kamaru lose this fight, we could see an end to his legendary career in the Welterweight division.
Barring the ‘No Contest’ decision of the Belal Muhammad fight, Edwards had amassed a 9-fight winning streak that moved up to 10 after defeating Usman back in UFC 278. This puts the Brit behind the likes of Islam Makhachev in terms of undefeated skid.
On the other hand, the ‘injury-infested’ Kamaru has the opportunity to ride off into the sunset like a hero if he manages to utilize his brutal punches and dangerous wrestling prowess one last time.
Let us put the fighting statistics aside and focus on the financials of the UFC 286 main event.
Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman 3 Purse, Payouts, Salaries
Although the UFC maintains tight privacy on athlete salaries, we can still estimate each fighter’s earnings based on their prior matches, our UFC insider data, numerous news outlets, authors, and Nevada State Athletic Commission data. Without further ado, let’s deep dive into the fight purse and payouts of Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman 3.
How much will Leon Edwards make at UFC 286?
Leon made a measly $18,000 in total from his debut defeat via split decision against Claudio Silva in UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Saint Preux back on November 8th, 2014.
Despite seeing a gradual increase in his total earnings, it took Edwards 7 years and 13 fights to receive a barely significant payday as he fought against the veteran Nate Diaz back on Jun 12th, 2021. Fighting in the UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2 card, the Brit only took home an optimistic estimate of $231,000 in total for his unanimous decision win.
The victory against Kamaru certainly raised ‘Rocky’s stocks up quite a bit. And by salary alone, the Brit could be taking home around $450,000 for the trilogy clash. If we add potential PPV buys (expected to be high owing to native support) and sponsorships & other estimates, the Birmingham resident could be looking at a whopping $700,000 payday.
How much will Kamaru Usman make at UFC 286?
Interestingly enough, Kamaru Usman made his proper UFC debut against Leon Edwards all the way back in 19th December 2015 on the UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs Cerrone 2 event. The Nigerian won the bout via unanimous decision and bagged a humble $26,500 in total.
His earnings stayed fairly average until the Rafael Dos Anjos fight, but the title shot against Tyron Woodley back on 2nd March 2019 on the UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith fight card saw his salary go from $75,000 to an eye-watering $350,000. Factoring in the estimated PPV payouts and sponsorship bonuses, the then 170 lb kingpin broke through the magical 1 million dollar mark.
Although the second matchup against Leon had an underwhelming salary of $500,000 and an estimated total income of $962,000. The stakes in this 3rd face-off are so high that Kamaru could very well smash his career-highest record of $1.8 million (2nd Colby Covington bout) and take home the career-highest total of $2 million provided he secures the win of course.
