Adesanya’s payout: $1m for a 9-minute fight
Israel Adesanya received just over $1.053m for his stunning UFC middleweight title defence against Paulo Costa.
The Kiwi star made quick work of the Brazilian with a second round victory at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Adesanya had a $916,000 fight guarantee as part of the purse, a reported 10 per cent increase on his previous title defence against Yoel Romero as his stocks continue to rise in the world’s premier MMA championship.
Adesanya was also paid $61,000 for his successful promotional work in the leadup to the fight.
And his totally dominant win saw him pick up a $76,000 performance bonus, not bad money for 8min 59sec in the Octagon.
The payouts were revealed as the UFC digested the payper-view audience which has been revealed but was expected to be substantial.
The fight statistics revealed how dominant Adesanya was as he used his remarkable leg work to quickly break down Costa and then finished him off with his lightning hands.
In less than two rounds Adesanya landed 55 significant strikes to Costa’s 12, with a 65 per cent hit rate with the strikes he attempted. Adesanya landed 24 of those strikes to the head of Costa while only taking two in that crucial area from his opponent. He pummelled Costa’s legs with 26 successful strikes, taking only two himself in that department.
A fuming Costa hit out at Adesanya’s ‘‘disgusting’’ postfight celebration as the Brazilian fighter demanded a rematch. Immediately after the referee stopped the contest, Adesanya the middleweight champion pretended to ride Costa as he began celebrating.
The pair had been feuding for the best part of a year leading up to the fight and Adesanya’s antics has only added more fuel to the fire for Costa.
‘‘I come here to talk about the actions that the human trash did after our fight,’’ he said in a video posted on Instagram. ‘‘I didn’t see when I was there [in] the cage but I saw now. I disapprove 100 per cent. To me, this is [personal] now. Nobody will stop me. Nobody can stop me.
‘‘I want my rematch. You know I am waiting for you. Something happened before the fight, I’m not [making] excuses here to my people, to my fans but I will be 100 per cent to fight him and to make him pay. That’s my word. Save my words.’’