On July 1, Tyron Woodley posted a photo on his Instagram page with the caption, “Bank robbery in progress.”
Woodley was pictured with pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather Jr., who jokingly said he was the best at “legalized bank robbing” following his eight-round exhibition against Logan Paul in June, a snoozefest that still earned Mayweather $30 million guaranteed.
Paul had no business being with Mayweather in the ring that night, and Woodley is claiming that his younger brother, Jake Paul, does not either against him in their fight on Sunday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
“You’re going to see Jake Paul get hurt in a way you’d never imagine,” Woodley said Monday on The MMA Hour. “He may not want to do this again after this.”
Regardless of how Woodley feels, he and Paul indeed are set to make some serious money for their bout, perhaps more than at any previous point in their careers.
Here’s a look at the expected payout and what it would mean for both fighters.
How much will Tyron Woodley earn vs. Jake Paul?
In an interview with MMAFighting.com on June 3, Woodley’s manager, Malki Kawa, said that his fighter “should walk away with a multi-million dollar payday” against Paul, adding that it was “one of the best deals I’ve ever done” as a manager.
Kawa said that Woodley’s base guarantee “is in the millions, already,” though he did not elaborate on the specifics of his pay. While there has been no official number denoted for Woodley’s payout, Evening Standard reported that Woodley “is expected to bank a minimum of $500,000” versus Paul.
Per Sportskeeda, Woodley has an estimated career earning of $4,874,425. His highest-paid fight was reportedly his fourth UFC welterweight title defense against Darren Till in September of 2018, which earned him $590,000, including Performance of the Night and fight week incentive bonuses.
Though it is unclear how much he will receive from a pay-per-view split, Woodley concurred in an interview with ESPN that his fight with Paul will be “the biggest purse of my career,” along with some additional trash talk.
“Basically, they brought me in to take out the trash,” he said. “I can’t wait to shut this b— up. This is getting done for the culture, the whole MMA community and boxing community, to rid this guy of combat sports.”
How much will Jake Paul earn vs. Tyron Woodley?
After earning an official purse of $690,000 for his bout against former Bellator, ONE Championship and UFC fighter Ben Askren on April 17, Paul is expected to be guaranteed at least $1 million against Woodley, according to the Evening Standard.
In May, Paul agreed to a reported multi-fight deal with Showtime, which has boasted fighters like Mayweather and three-division champion Gervonta Davis and is almost certain to award him a higher payout than his previous network, Triller Fight Club.
Though it is uncertain what his final paycheck will be, Paul claimed in an interview with Mirror that he turned down a higher purse so that fighters on his undercard could be more properly compensated.
“It’s coming out of my pockets for sure,” Paul said. “Like, directly out of my purse.
“Everyone on the card is getting the biggest pay-day that they’ve ever had as a fighter and that’s just part of my movement.”
Over the last few months, Paul has voiced displeasure with UFC president Dana White, who he says is underpaying his fighters in their sport. Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza said in an interview with MMA Fighting that Paul has been serious about compensating other fighters.
“Jake when we’re putting together the card and we’re working with the promoter and his advisor Nakisa [Bidarian], Jake made it a point to ask what are each fighter making?” Espinoza said. “Are the women’s fighters, are those fighters being paid appropriately? Are the other fighters, the people we’re bringing over from the U.K., are they being paid appropriately?
“So I know this is a personal issue. I see it first hand when there’s no cameras around. The only person I’ve seen that from is Floyd and Floyd took a very active role in everything that happened on his card. Jake in particular is involved in everything but you can tell he is concerned about making sure the compensation is fair.”
Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight salaries
Though there have been reported totals for what Paul and Woodley will each make, none of the fight salaries on their fight card have been made known to the public.
Here is a recap of the full card, which will begin on Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET.
- Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley, cruiserweights
- Amanda Serrano (champion) vs. Yamileth Mercado, WBC, WBO and IBO women’s featherweight titles
- Daniel Dubois vs. Joe Cusumano, heavyweights
- Montana Love vs. Ivan Baranchyk, welterweights
- Tommy Fury vs. Anthony Taylor, cruiserweights