Israel Adesanya celebrates after defeating Paulo Costa. Photo / Getty
Israel Adesanya celebrates after defeating Paulo Costa. Photo / Getty
Kiwi UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya walked away with a reported $1.05m after his title defence against Brazilian Paulo Costa.
Adesanya made easy work of Costa with a second round TKO victory at UFC 253 at Fight Island in Abu Dabhi on Sunday.
Just for showing up, the 31-year-old earned a guaranteed $915,000, which was reportedly a 10 per cent increase from his previous title defence againt Yoel Romero – and it will likely increase as his stocks continue to rise in the UFC.
Aside from the base salary, Adesanya also earned $61,000 for promotional work in the lead up to the fight and claimed a 'Fight of the Night' bonus to the tune of another $76,200.
Adesanya dominated the fight, handing Costa his first loss of his professional career. And it took him just under nine minutes to do so.
According to UFC president Dana White, Adesanya's bout broke several records, with the pre-fight stare-down becoming the most-watched in the organisation's history. The pay-per-view buys for the event, which hasn't been revealed, are also expected to be substantial.
Despite the relatively straightforward victory, the latest win will likely be Adesanya's biggest of his career when it comes to earning him more global name-recognition and commercial opportunities.
Aside from the UFC payouts, Adesanya also has several sponsorships on the go. He recently signed a deal with Puma and was on the cover of the UFC's latest video game.
Adesanya has also been outspoken about the UFC's pay structure when it comes to fighters who don't make weight and called for a harsher penalty to be imposed on those fighters, who he labeled "cheats".
Adesanya's City Kickboxing teammate Shane Young was knocked out on the same card over the weekend by Ludovit Klein, who was four pounds (1.81kg) over the 146-pound (66.2kg) featherweight limit.
Israel Adesanya celebrates after defeating Paulo Costa. Photo / Getty
Young earned 30 per cent of Klein's purse but Adesanya believes it wasn't enough and wants fighters who miss weight to receive a bigger penalty.
"It's just cheating," Adesanya said after defeating Costa.
"I'm telling you, if you fine someone 90 per cent of your purse if you miss weight, I guarantee you no matter how much money you're making, no one is going to go through this whole camp, through this whole s***, and be willing to give 90 per cent of their pay to the other guy.
"They will take every second to make the weight.
"Even if you're making $5 million, if 90 per cent of that goes to your opponent I guarantee you people will make weight."
Adesanya said Klein and Zubaira Tukhugov – who also missed weight by four pounds for his lightweight loss to Hakeem Dawodu – were unprofessional.
"We [City Kickboxing] have guys like Carlos Ulberg and Blood Diamond who aren't even in the UFC yet and they were ready, they were already close to their weight, they're professionals," Adesanya said.
