As we all know, there is a huge discrepancy when it comes to fighters and their payouts in the UFC. The money that fighters on the lower end of the roster make is significantly less than that of the top stars in Dana White‘s promotion. Recently, a Brazilian heavyweight fighter, who’s been in the UFC for a few years now, revealed a highly respectable number as the money he made for the last fight. But guess what? It’s not what it sounds like.
When comedian Andrew Schulz took a swipe at Dana White on Tom Brady’s roast on Netflix, claiming that he intentionally pays the Brazilian fighters less, it really made rounds on the internet last year. “Oh, that’s why Dana is here? So you can learn how to f— a Brazilian out of half of their purse,” the comedian said, prompting a wave of laughter from the crowd. While it may have been just a joke, it does add to the debate about the promotion paying its fighters way lesser than those in boxing.
During a recent interview in Portuguese, heavyweight fighter Vitor Petrino revealed the financial details of his last fight against Austen Lane. The 27-year-old mentioned making half a million that night, which doesn’t sound too bad for a fighter who’s not even ranked at the moment. But there is a twist that not many fans would have expected.
Vitor Petrino claims that Dana White and Co. paid him 500,000 Brazilian reais and not US dollars, which is roughly around $90,000, as a user on X revealed. So if we were to estimate, he may have made $50,000 to fight and $50,000 to win. “It’s been two weeks since I fought at UFC Nashville… [I make] About 500 grand [real] or more… Per fight… [With] About two [fights per year],” the heavyweight fighter revealed.
Petrino falou que ganha 500 mil por luta, mas aqui vale destacar, ele ganha isso em reais. Daria algo perto de 90 mil dólares. Ele deve ter um contrato de 50k pra lutar + 50k em caso de vitória, então o valor é por aí mesmo.
Mas vale dizer: provavelmente ele não descontou os… https://t.co/GGKNU5tcpL
— Igor Serafini (@igorserafini_) August 5, 2025
It seems that Dana White has had a dramatic shift in his thoughts on Brazilian fighters. Why? Well, the CEO used to love Brazil for giving combat sports some of the best athletes ever. Here’s what he had to say over a dozen years ago.
Dana White once hailed Brazil for producing fighters in the UFC and across all combat sports formats
One of the most highly decorated Brazilian fighters ever in the UFC, Anderson Silva, who’s also referred to as one of the GOATs of MMA. In 2012, he was perhaps the best fighter in his prime, and that’s when Dana White was not only a fan of ‘The Spider’ but also of the whole nation of Brazil, hailing the fans and the biggest country in South America’s knack for fighting.
“Since the beginning of time, all the best fighters in the world have come from Brazil,” Dana White stated in 2012. “The greatest fighter of all-time, Anderson Silva, is from there. Our heavyweight champion is from there, and a ton of other great fighters…. Those are the only two places we’ve been. There are so many other places for us to go in Brazil. It’s a very, very fun market.”
Well, Dana White and Co. are returning to Brazil this year with a Fight Night for the first time since 2015, which is sure to feature some native fighters. But the question is: will their payouts look the same as Vitor Petrino’s for his last fight? There will be some unranked fighters on the card after all. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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