JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK pocketed just £81,207 after being left with a huge hematoma in her loss to Weili Zhang at UFC 248.

In what has already been dubbed the greatest female fight in MMA history, the 32-year-old Polish star was left barely recognisable after failing to regain her strawweight crown.

Chinese warrior Weili, who also had to go to hospital afterwards, bagged £153k for her brave efforts in retaining the belt, including a £76.6k win bonus.

But despite the show-stealing clash having co-main event status, their earnings were dwarfed by their male counterparts Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero.

The end of Adesanya’s successful defence via unanimous decision in Las Vegas was met with a huge chorus of boos as the subdued affair failed to deliver on the pre-hype.

However, that will not bother the champ, who banked a cool £383k for his night’s work.

And the defeated challenger Romero picked up £268k – more than BOTH the heroic Weili and Jedrzejczyk’s purses combined.

The salaries were obtained by MMA Junkie, with the total payout for the event being £1.6m.

But it is worth also noting that the above salaries do not include UFC Performance Bonuses, locker room bonuses, sponsorship pay or pay-per-view cuts.

Additionally, they don’t include deductions for insurance, taxes or licensing, though.

Weili and Jedrzejczyk threw almost 800 strikes combined over five rounds, leaving both fighters battered and bruised by the end of the fight.

Jedrzejczyk had even suffered a haematoma – a large bruise under the skin, when blood causes a major swelling which often needs to be drained surgically.

She was discharged from hospital with no significant injuries, but as a result of the severe inflammation, the UFC have stopped her competing for two months.

Jedrzejczyk can return to full contact sparring late next month, and despite her haematoma, could even fight again as soon as May.

Zhang, who was also taken to hospital after the five-round slugfest, has been given the same mandatory length of suspension following her successful title defence.

Source: Read Full Article