CM Punk Earns $500,000 For UFC 203 Fight

CM Punk was absolutely mauled by Mickey Gall at UFC 203, in one of the more one-sided major fights of the year. But Punk still took home a hefty paycheck for his effort.

According to MMAFighting.com, Punk will earn $500,000 for his fight against Gall. This is confirmed by the numbers released by the Ohio Athletic Commission. For his part, Gall took home $30,000, between the $15,000 base pay for his appearance on the show, and the additional $15,000 for his victory.

Of course, both Punk and Gall may earn even more before it's all said and done, since these numbers don't reflect bonuses or pay-per-view points. That said, while Dana White suggested that Punk probably shouldn't fight in UFC again, a strong buyrate could lead to the company reconsidering. Hell, if they do a big number, then $500,000 is practically a steal for what Punk will have delivered. That said, that's a big "if".

Still, it's kind of amazing that a completely untested fighter earned such a huge flat sum. The only people with higher flat sums were UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic ($600,000) and Alistair Overeem ($800,000), and they were the main event of the evening. Former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum earned $375,000 after his win bonus, while Travis Browne earned $120,000 flat and Urijah Faber earned $160,000 flat. So this was a big paycheck for getting clobbered for one round. I can't imagine many fighters will be happy about that, but if he adds eyeballs to the event, then it ought to be seen as a good thing. After all, a rising tide lifts all ships, so everyone would stand to make more money if Punk really does turn out to have been a draw for this event.

But what do you think about CM Punk earning $500,000 for his fight against Mickey Gall? Sound off in the comments!

And for more UFC news, relive UFC 203 by checking out our complete results from the event!