Nigerian born New Zealand based UFC middleweight title holder, Israel Adesanya has earned a sum of $500,000 for retaining his belt against Yoel Romero in Las Vegas last Saturday.
The $500,000 prize money was the highest amount earned at the UFC 248 pay-per-view event.
His opponent Romero also pocketed $350,000 despite losing to the champion on points making him the second most paid mixed martial artist.
Strawweight champion Zhang Weili went home with an appearance fee of $100,000 and a winning bonus of $100,00 after defeating Joanna Jedrzejczyk who earned $106,000.
Adesanya won with a unanimous point decision taken through the distance but all three judges scored the fight in his favour after five rounds.
Romero adopted an orthodox style in the first round, standing still and waiting for the Style Bender to come towards him before he strikes.
The Soldier of God scored a point when he countered Adesanya which caught him the eye. The champion was stable and more calculated in his attack, scoring a high-kick into the head of Romero.
The fans in Las Vegas were booing Romero because of his approach to the fight but that did not stop Adesanya from throwing kicks into his opponent’s body and head.
The fifth and final saw both fighters come at each other but none of them threatened to score a knockdown as fans were disappointed.
Adesanya’s victory is his unbeaten streak with 19 wins out of 19 fights since joining the UFC two years ago.
