This weekend, Amanda Nunes continued to cement her place as the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time when she defended her Featherweight title against Megan Anderson at UFC 259. Despite a thin division, the win is the second time she has defended the belt, the first time being against Felicia Spencer at UFC 250. Of course, she’s also the current Bantamweight champion. Being a two-division champion in the UFC, and arguably the most successful one, is largely how The Lioness earned her net worth of $5 million.
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Amanda Nunes’ Net Worth: How Much Is The Double Champ Worth?
Humble Beginnings
If she retired today, Amanda Nunes would undeniably be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time, with a resumé so good that it actually seems fake. Nunes boasts two wins over UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko, and she has beaten every single Women’s Bantamweight Champion and Women’s Featherweight Champion in the promotion’s history too. But of course, she had to work up to this point. This wasn’t always the case.
When Amanda first debuted in the UFC, it was at UFC 163 in Brazil. She had a 7-3 record and fought on the prelims against Sheila Gaff, making just $6k to show with a $6 win bonus. In her next fight, that increased to $8k to show with an $8k win bonus. Had she won her following fight against Cat Zingano, she would have made $30k, her biggest purse yet. Unfortunately, she took her first and only loss in the UFC and made just half of that.
(Double) Champion Salary
The first time that Amanda Nunes fought for a title in the UFC, was at UFC 200, one of the biggest events in the organization’s history. Despite getting a shot at Miesha Tate’s Bantamweight title in the main event, of the ten fighters on the main card, she got paid the least amount of money, albeit the most she’d been paid until that point.
Amanda got paid a flat fee of $100k, which increased to $150k after she won the Performance of the Night bonus for making quick work of the champion. Despite being on one of the biggest cards in MMA history, Nunes’ next fight five months later at UFC 207 got way bigger for her. She was set to defend the belt against the newly returning Ronda Rousey. With another dominant win, on paper, Nunes made $250k ($100k to show, $100k to win, $50k performance bonus), which is an incredible amount of money, but relative to what other stars on the card earned, feels a little disrespectful. It should be acknowledged that Amanda would have made PPV points, which is massive on a Ronda card. But even still, Ronda made $3 million, which is fair because of her star power. But Cody Garbrandt, who wasn’t even a champion that night, made $200k himself. Despite clearly being one of the better pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, Amanda was yet to be paid her true worth.
Amanda’s purse stayed around the same until she made her attempt at all-time greatness. At UFC 232, Nunes went up a weight division to fight Featherweight queen Cris Cyborg. Her purse became $350k, with the performance bonus taking it up to $400k. In her newfound greatness as a double champion, Amanda has been making half a million dollars each time she fights, not including bonuses, Reebok pay, or PPV points, which all add up to an even more respectable amount.
Sponsorships
Although she hasn’t spent years with a brand for a long-term sponsorship deal, Amanda has taken advantage of her star power by doing social media posts for a multitude of brands. Nunes has promoted products from Revivid SPORT, Trifecta Nutrition, Kaged Muscle, and more.