Miesha Tate made $1.7 million to take down Holly Holm in UFC 196 on 3/5/16. That sum includes only $92,000 in prize and bonus pay. Another $1.5 million comes from estimated Pay Per View buys. Tate earned another estimated $100,000 in sponsor dollars for the match.
Miesha “Cupcake” Tate has fought in 23 professional MMA fights since 2007. With a record of 18/5, her career hasn’t been as impressive as Holly Holm’s. Until March 5th, Holly Holm was undefeated. That all changed when she stepped into the cage with Tate.
Miesha Tate Prize Money and Earnings
Miesha Tate’s pro MMA career kicked off on 11/24/2007. On that date Tate defeated Jan Finney in the HOOKnSHOOT BogdogFIGHT 2007 Women’s Tournament. The fighter earned an estimated $30,000 for the win. Since then, Tate’s earnings per fight had remained fairly steady until she broke into the PPV world in UFC 168.
| Date | Fight | Event | Result | Time | Prizes and Bonuses | PPV Money | Endorsement Earnings (Estimated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/5/2016 | Miesha Tate vs Holly Holm | UFC 196 | Win | 3:30 | $92,000 | $1,500,000 | $100,000 |
| 7/25/2015 | Miesha Tate vs Jessica Eye | UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 | Win | 5:00 | $75,000 | N/A | $65,000 |
| 1/31/2015 | Miesha Tate vs Sara McMann | UFC 183 | Win | 5:00 | $50,000 | $975,000 | $40,000 |
| 9/20/2014 | Miesha Tate vs Rin Nakai | UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson | Win | 5:00 | $28,000 | N/A | $20,000 |
| 4/19/2014 | Miesha Tate vs Liz Carmouche | UFC on Fox: Werdum vs. Browne | Win | 5:00 | $28,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 12/28/2013 | Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey | UFC 168 | Loss | 0:58 | $28,000 | $1,500,000 | $10,000 |
| 4/13/2013 | Miesha Tate vs Cat Zingano | The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Finale | Loss | 2:55 | $15,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 8/18/2012 | Miesha Tate vs Julie Kedzie | Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman | Win | 3:28 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 3/3/2012 | Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey | Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey | Loss | 4:27 | $15,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 7/30/2011 | Miesha Tate vs Marloes Coenen | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson | Win | 3:03 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 8/13/2010 | Miesha Tate vs Hitomi Akano | Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor | Win | 3:00 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 8/13/2010 | Miesha Tate vs Maiju Kujala | Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor | Win | 3:00 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 3/26/2010 | Miesha Tate vs Zoila Frausto Gurgel | Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe | Win | 4:09 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 1/16/2010 | Miesha Tate vs Valerie Coolbaugh | Freestyle Cage Fighting 38 | Win | 4:45 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 10/3/2009 | Miesha Tate vs Miesha Tate vs Sarah Oriza | CageSport MMA | Win | 0:08 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 5/15/2009 | Miesha Tate vs Sarah Kaufman | Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina | Loss | 3:00 | $15,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 4/4/2009 | Miesha Tate vs Lizbeth Carreiro | Freestyle Cage Fighting 30 | Win | 2:48 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 2/21/2009 | Miesha Tate vs Dora Baptiste | Atlas Fights: USA vs. Brazil | Win | 1:48 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 1/31/2009 | Miesha Tate vs Jessica Bednark | Freestyle Cage Fighting 27 | Win | 1:22 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 11/29/2008 | Miesha Tate vs Jamie Lynn Welsh | CageSport MMA | Win | 2:21 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 6/27/2008 | Miesha Tate vs Elaina Maxwell | Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson | Win | 3:00 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 11/24/2007 | Miesha Tate vs Kaitlin Young | HOOKnSHOOT: BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Tournament | Loss | 0:30 | $15,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| 11/24/2007 | Miesha Tate vs Jan Finney | HOOKnSHOOT: BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Tournament | Win | 3:00 | $20,000 | N/A | $10,000 |
| Totals | $621,000 | $3,975,000 | $415,000 | ||||
| Total Miesha Tate Earnings | $5,011,000 |
Miesha Tate was not expected to win her match with Holly Holm. For one thing, Tate was defeated not once but twice by Rhonda Rousey, once in 2012 and once in 2013. For another, Vegas odds makers put the Tate/Holm odds at +285 to -345. That made Holm the undisputed favorite for the win. (For the uninitiated, if someone bet $345 on Holm and she’d won, they would have won $100. If someone bet $100 on Miesha Tate, they won $285 when she won.) The concrete cupcake reacts emotionally to the win in the video below.
Also see: How Much Money Does Holly Holm Make?
Miesha Tate UFC 196 Prize Money
Miesha Tate got $92,000 in UFC prize money to beat Holly Holm. $46,000 was for showing up and another $46,000 was for winning. The UFC 196 match took place on 3/5/16 and earned Holly Holm $500,000 in prize money, plus $1.5 million in PPV dollars and $100,000 in estimated sponsor dollars.
Tate made $1.5 million in PPV money also. PPV stars are said to make 3% of the total pay per view take for the evening. Tate also likely made $100,000 in sponsor money, though those figures aren’t shared publicly.
Also see: Ronda Rousey Net Worth
Miesha Tate Net Worth
Miesha Tate’s net worth is $2.3 million. The Miesha Tate net worth total comes from PPV money, prize money and bonus earnings. Tate has been in 23 televised pro MMA fights. Up until UFC 168 she earned only an estimated $15,000 to $30,000 per fight. Breaking into the UFC is a huge money boost for a fighter like Tate. The pay per view money can be huge for a fighter. Reports indicate UFC fighters take home 3% of the PPV buy money per fight. We know exactly how many PPV buys there are for each event and exactly how much they cost. From that, we can easily estimate Tate’s PPV money from UFC 168 at $1.5 million. That single match dwarfed the money from all her other fights combined.
UFC 183 and UFC 196 also gave Miesha Tate a huge money boost. The great thing for Tate is that now her fame is growing. Whatever she earns for her next UFC match, it won’t be $92,000. As world champion, she’ll likely command something along the lines of Holly Holm’s $500,000 payout win or lose.
Miesha Tate has earned an estimated $415,000 in endorsement money during her career. This includes ads like the one below, for the Pre Fight supplement from Fighter’s Power.
About Miesha Tate
Miesha Tate, known as Cupcake, is an incredibly hard working fighter with the heart to stand through defeat after defeat. Contrast her 18-5 record with Holly Holm’s til-now-undefeated status. Contrast her to Ronda Rousey, also undefeated until UFC 193. There’s something like a magic spell around an undefeated fighter. Break the streak, and the spell can come crashing down.
Ronda Rousey admitted to Ellen DeGeneres that she contemplated suicide after her UFC 193 loss. Holly Holm has some soul searching to do herself. Miesha Tate’s soul has already been thoroughly mapped. This fighter has met defeat again and again. She has already learned the hard lesson that defeat isn’t a judgement. It something you fight through and stand up to. Stand she has, again and again. That’s the difference between an inspiration and a flash in the pan. Whatever money she earns, there’s a sense that Tate will lose again in her career, maybe often. She’ll shake it off. This cupcake may be sweet, but she’s anything but soft.
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