Bellator 170 salaries: Ortiz makes bank, Sonnen pockets just $50K

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 170.

This exciting, 18-fight card was headlined by a light heavyweight clash between two veteran, West Coast wrestlers. In one corner, we had California’s Tito Ortiz, a former UFC light heavyweight champion and UFC Hall-of-Famer. In the other, we had Oregon’s Chael Sonnen, a three-time UFC title challenger and a man considered one of the best trash talkers in MMA. Though Sonnen entered this bout as a betting favorite, Ortiz ultimately walked away with the win, locking up a rear-naked choke to earn the tap at just 2:03 of the first round.

Other highlights of the card included a welterweight scrap between English striker Paul “Semtex” Daley and “Irish” Brennan Ward, which Daley won with an incredible first-round KO, and a middleweight style clash between French-Japanese striker Hisaki Kato and BJJ icon Ralek Gracie.

Now that the event is in the rear-view, purses for the 36 fighters involved have been released. Ortiz, who retired post-fight, was far and away the event’s biggest earner, pocketing a whopping $300,000 for his win. Sonnen, meanwhile, earned a surprisingly low $50,000 in defeat. Daley and Ward also both earned $50,000 for their co-main event welterweight battle.

Here’s a full rundown of the paydays for Bellator 170 (via MMAFighting.com).

Main card (Spike TV)

• Tito Ortiz ($300,000 + no win bonus = $300,000) def. Chael Sonnen ($50,000)
• Paul Daley ($50,000 + no win bonus = $50,000) def. Brennan Ward ($50,000)
• Hisaki Kato ($30,000 + no win bonus = $30,000) def. Ralek Gracie ($33,000)
• Emmanuel Sanchez ($20,000 + $20,000 = $40,000) def. Georgi Karakhanyan ($24,000)
• Derek Campos (19,200 + $15,000 = $34,200) def. Derek Anderson ($7,800)

Early prelims (bellator.com)

• Henry Corrales ($14,000 + $14,000 = $28,000) def. Cody Bollinger ($2,500)
• Guilherme Bomba ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. John Mercurio ($2,000)
• Kevin Casey ($10,000) fought to draw with Keith Berry ($3,000)
• Alex Soto ($3,000 + $3,000 – $6,000*) def. Demarcus Brown ($2,000)
• Chinzo Machida ($10,000 + $10,000) def. Jacar Ocampo ($1,500)

Un-aired prelims

• Jacob Rosales ($2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000) def. Ian Butler ($1,500)
• Mike Segura ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Tommy Aaron ($2,000)
• James Barnes ($2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000) def. Rob Gooch ($2,000)
• Curtis Millender ($2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000) def. Johnny Cisneros ($2,000)
• Colleen Schneider ($3,000* + $3,000 = $6,000) def. Chrissie Daniels ($4,500)
• Jalin Turner ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Gabriel Green ($2,000)
• Jack May ($2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000) def. Dave Cryer ($2,000)
• Daniel Rodriguez ($1,500 + $1,500 = $3,000) def. Christian Gonzalez ($1,500*)

*fined 20 percent of purse, half of which is awarded to opponent. 

Are you surprised by Ortiz and Sonnen’s Bellator 170 purses? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/22/2017.