A fight could not be completed without a match official. Referees play important role in the pay-per-views they are the one’s to check that both fighters following rules and regulation. A single wrong judgement can create massive problem for the organizers and as well as match officials. Herb Dean one of the top mixed martial arts referee currently active and can be seen in the main event matches of UFC. UFC referees salaries reported based on their contracts.
| Category | Base Salary | PPV Payouts | Sponsorship Bonuses | Contract Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional Referees | $500k | $50k | $10k – $40k | 5 years |
| Rookie Referees | $100k | N/A | $5k | 2 years |
Professional Referees : They are the one’s who had experienced of years in mixed martial arts and very well familiar with rules and regulations. Fighting promotion offered 3-5 years contract to refs who had been selected for more than 20-40 fights. No signing bonus awarded to the them but they make money from contract directly worth $350k to $500k. When the become part of high profile fights they make more than $25k regular salary a pay-per-view event. Herb Deen highest paid he hold contract with promotion from a very long time as per sources generated $50k a fight from big fights including Khabib vs McGregor.
Rookie Referees : They are new to the competition, don’t have much experienced mostly got selected preliminary fights and early preliminary fights to gain expiernce, however they don’t have contract with allot of benefits until they reach the level of pro match officials.
How Much UFC Ref Make Per Fight & PPV Event?
Currently it’s difficult explain how much UFC referee earn per fight, however he will make guaranteed $25k for the main-card fights as match official. The high profile fights such as Khabib vs McGregor will brought extra cash to ref’s contract with promotional. Some sources claimed that Herb Dean earn upto $50k as match official of the fight card of (McGregor vs Khabib).
- Herb Dean highest earnings reported $50k from (UFC 229, 257)
- John McCarthy earn career best payday from PPV event (UFC 202), reportedly earn $50k as match official.
Who is the Highest Paid UFC Referee?
Herb Dean, Marc Goddard, Dan Miragliotta currently best paid UFC referees. A report back in 2018 revealed the details how referees earn, according to their data, UFC referees in main-card and pay-per-view event earn $25k guaranteed no bonus but yes they may get paid from sponsorship but official figure for sponsorship not reported.
| Match Officials | Base Salary | Sponsorship | PPV Money | Contract Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herb Dean | $500k | $40k | $25k | 2023 |
| Jason Herzog | $100k | $5k | N/A | 2023 |
| Marc Goddard | $350k | $20k | $25k | 2023 |
| Mark Smith | $275k | $10k | $15k | 2023 |
| Chris Tognoni | $100k | $5k | N/A | 2023 |
| Dan Miragliotta | $350k | $20k | $25k | 2023 |
| Keith Peterson | $150k | $15k | N/A | 2023 |
How the Match Officials got Selected for UFC?
Job of the match officials is to follow all the rules of the fight and make sure to protect the fighters during the fight. One of the top refs of MMA, McCarthy says “Ref’s job is to protect the fighters, specially when they can’t protect themselves” he further included that i don’t care when the fan start boo or don’t like me, its my job what right that i have to do that moment.
- How well you known with fight rules
- A referee should be well aware of terminologies of MMA
- He should know how to judge a fighter (when to deduct a point)
- Very important to obtain license by completing course
- Need to be fast in the ring alongside fighters
- If there is a change in the rules he must know them
- You have the power of decision when to stop fight
- The most important thing is to follow the rules
In future, if new match officials joined the UFC details regarding UFC referees salaries, contracts, sponsorship bonuses updated here.