5. Bas Rutten
(Career Disclosed Earnings: $200,000)
Granted, Bas has probably earned quite a bit more from his broadcasting career than he has his fighting career. Still, Rutten was one of the greatest fighters of his era, and deserving of his spot in MMA history.
Like many from his time, he didn’t get paid however. Rutten retired shortly after winning the UFC heavyweight championship in 1999, the result of an accumulation of injuries. He came out of retirement for one fight in 2006, which was the biggest payday of his career.
Rutten has made money from seminars, endorsing workout equipment, hosting MMA shows, commenting on MMA and from numerous other MMA related work. He just didn’t earn much from actually fighting.
