UFC 251 was held at the Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 12 July 2020. The event featured the main fight between Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and No. 3 competitor Jorge Masvidal who accepted the bout shortly after the initial opponent Gilbert Burns checked COVID-19 positively. Usman successfully retained the title and received a $640,000 paycheck.
The co-main event was between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, the Featherweight fighters for the title. Blessed was not able to take the crown back because he lost the decision to the winner. The other title bout was for the vacant bantamweight championship, which Yan won via TKO against Jose Aldo.
Although fighter pay data is not published by the athletic commissions, the below-given payment is not official but is the reasonably correct purse.
Kamaru Usman: $640,000 ($600,000 to show, $40,000 fight week incentive pay)
Jorge Masvidal: $530,000 ($500,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)
Jose Aldo: $430,000 ($400,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)
Alexander Volkanovski: $390,000 ($350,000 to show, $40,000 fight week incentive pay)
Max Holloway: $280,000 ($250,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)
Petr Yan: $230,000 ($100,000 to show, $100,000 to show, $30,000 fight week incentive pay)
Rose Namajunas: $160,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)
Jiri Prochazka: $153,500 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Marcin Tybura: $150,000 ($70,000 to show, $70,000 win bonus, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)
Jessica Andrade: $115,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, $15,000 fight week incentive pay)
Volkan Oezdemir: $100,000 ($95,000 to show, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)
Davey Grant: $83,000 ($14,000 to sow, $14,000 win bonus, $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)
Leonardo Santos: $57,000 ($26,000 to show, $26,000 win bonus, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)
Paige VanZant: $51,000 ($46,000 to show, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)
Makwan Amirkhani: $45,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 win bonus, $5,000 fight week incentive pay)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos: $38,000 ($28,000 to show, $10,000 fight week incentive pay)
Amanda Ribas: $36,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 win bonus, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)
Muslim Salikhov: $32,000 (($14,000 to show, $13,000 win bonus, $4,000 fight week incentive pay)
Karol Rosa: $30,500 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $3,000 from Melo for missing weight, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Raulian Paiva: $25,100 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 win bonus, $2,400 fine for missing weight, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Danny Henry: $17,500 ($14,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Zhalgas Zhumagulov: $15,900 ($10,000 to show, $2,400 from Paiva for missing weight, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Maxim Grishin: $13,500 ($10,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Martin Day: $13,500 ($10,000 to show, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
Vanessa Melo: $10,500 ($10,000 to show, $3,000 fine for missing weight, $3,500 fight week incentive pay)
