BONUS SYSTEM A BOON FOR LAUZON
Veteran Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight Joe Lauzon stood to make $3,000 to show and another $3,000 as a win bonus when he appeared for a UFC 63 fight with Jens Pulver eight years ago in Anaheim, Calif.
He knew fighting in the UFC was a great opportunity to make a living, but the newcomer had little idea of the potential upside when he stepped in the octagon, until someone handed him a check for $15,000.
“I’m getting what? What are you handing me?” he remembers of his immediate reaction.
Lauzon had won his first UFC bonus for knocking out Pulver, but it would hardly be his last. Over the next six years, he won 11 more, pocketing $585,000 above his contracted pay.
In 75% of his fights, Lauzon (23-9 mixed martial arts, 10-6 UFC), an ex-IT professional, has earned a bonus. He’s tied with exlongtime champ Anderson Silva for the most UFC awards, and he’ll go for another when he meets The Ultimate Fighter 15 winner Michael Chiesa (11-1, 4-1) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs. Mousasi at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. (Fox Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET.)
“I never thought, ‘I have to win this bonus,’ ” Lauzon tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s just that the way I like to fight and perform, it lends itself to winning bonuses.”
The UFC is unique in how it incentivizes its athletes to put on better performances. With no traditional seasons in which to set benchmarks for pay, the promotion puts extra money up for grabs in each event, and fighters such as Lauzon who wow the crowd with finishes and exciting bouts stand to benefit the most.
“It’s made him more comfortable, where he hasn’t had to worry so much about the income from his gym or from another job,” says Chris Palmquist, Lauzon’s training partner and friend.
Lightweight James Krause, who started on MMA’s smaller circuits (where paydays can be as little as a few hundred dollars), had never received anything beyond his agreed pay when he signed on to fight on short notice at UFC 161 in 2013. He submitted Sam Stout in the waning seconds of a three-round thriller, and because he was the only person on the card to tap out his opponent, he picked up $50,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night” and “Submission of the Night.”
“It was the best moment of my life,” Krause says. “It changed everything for me. All the ups and downs finally paid off. I reinvested it and bought the MMA gym I was training in and allowed me to make more money back.”
As Lauzon found out, the money wasn’t just a source of stability. It helped him save his son’s life.
Shortly after Joey Lauzon came into the world in January, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a common pediatric cancer. His father saw the bill for his first day in the hospital: $140,000.
“It definitely helped having extra money to deal with this,” Joe Lauzon says. “With hospital bills and health insurance, it’s been really tough. But I’d trade it all to have Joey healthy and happy. All the bonuses definitely helped.”