Bellator 290 Salaries: Bader, Eblen Top Payroll with $150K Apiece

It was a good night for reigning champions at Bellator 290.

In the main event, Ryan Bader defended his heavyweight belt with a first-round technical knockout of the retiring Fedor Emelianenko. Meanwhile, Johnny Eblen retained the middleweight strap with a five-round verdict against Anatoly Tokov in the evening’s co-headliner.

As it turns out, Bader and Eblen were the top earners at the event as well. Both pocketed $150,000 for their championship triumphs. Emelianenko earned $100,000 in his swan song, while Tokov garnered $75,000 for his loss to Eblen. The California State Athletic Commission recently released a full list of salaries from the event, which took place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Saturday night.

There were two other six-figure earners at Bellator 290: Sabah Homasi ($100,000), who suffered a second-round TKO loss to Brennan Ward ($75,000) and Christopher Gonzalez ($100,000), who stopped Max Rohskopf ($30,000) with punches in the second stanza.

Note: The disclosed purses reported by state athletic commissions do not include any performance-based or discretionary bonuses that may be awarded to a fighter by the promotion. Additionally, the reported figures do not reflect any deductions made by the commission for taxes, insurance, etc., and do not include any sponsorship money that a fighter may acquire for their performance.

Bellator 290 Salaries:

Ryan Bader: $150,000
Fedor Emelianenko: $100,000

Johnny Eblen: $150,000
Anatoly Tokov: $75,000

Brennan Ward: $75,000
Sabah Homasi: $100,000

Lorenz Larkin: $75,000
Mukhamed Berkhamov: $33,000

Henry Corrales: $75,000
Akhmed Magomedov: $28,000

Steve Mowry: $70,000
Ali Isaev: $70,000

Christopher Gonzalez: $100,000 (includes $50,000 win bonus)
Max Rohskopf: $30,000

Grant Neal: $66,000 (includes $33,000 win bonus)
Karl Albrektsson: $35,000

Diana Avsaragova: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Alejandra Lara: $60,000

Nikita Mikhailov: $32,000 (includes $16,000 win bonus)
Darrion Caldwell: $50,000

Neiman Gracie: $70,000
Dante Schiro: $20,000

Jaylon Bates: $20,000
Jornel Lugo: $35,000

Isaiah Hokit: $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
Peter Ishiguro: $3,000

Yusuf Karakaya: $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Ethan Hughes: $5,000