Bellator held a major show in Los Angeles back in January and some eyebrows were raised when the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) released the sheet of fight purses.
On it, 16 fighters made $2,000 or less in show money. The ones who won did double their pay with win bonuses. But regardless, the figures seemed low for the second-biggest MMA promotion in the U.S., which happens to be owned by media giant Viacom. The minimum fight purse in the UFC is $10,000 to show with a $10,000 win bonus attached to it.
There is a reason for the relatively low salaries on the Bellator card and frankly this structure is nothing new for Scott Coker-promoted cards going back to his days running Strikeforce.