She may not be close to topping the list (yet), but Ronda Rousey has made it onto Forbes’ Highest Paid Female Athletes of 2015 list, slipping in at No. 8. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion made $6.5 million in the twelve months since June 1, 2014, with $3 million of that coming from “salaries and winnings” and the other $3.5 from endorsements.
It’s been a huge year for Rousey – she released her New York Times bestselling autobiography My Fight / Your Fight, appeared in three huge Hollywood films (Furious7, Entourage, and Expendables 3), and has gotten countless high profile sponsorships. Oh yeah, she also fought twice (remember, we’re talking June 2014 to June 2015 here).
There’s also big questions surrounding exactly how much she made for those fights. Her official payout, according to documents filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, is a measly $120,000. But it’s a well known fact that the UFC discloses as little as legally required on those forms, paying top fighters way more in pay-per-view cuts, locker room bonuses, and signing incentives. If Forbes got their estimate right, Rousey is making $1.5 million per fight.
That’s certainly not Floyd Mayweather money, but not too shabby considering women’s mixed martial arts only made it to the big leagues three years ago. Rousey joins two other non-tennis players on the list – Nascar driver Danica Patrick (No. 4 with $13.9 million) and golfer Stacy Lewis (No. 9 with $6.4 million).
Here’s the full list:
1. Maria Sharapova ($29.7 million – $6.7 million winnings / $23 million endorsements)
2. Serena Williams ($24.6 million – $11.6 million winnings / $13 million endorsements)
3. Caroline Wozniacki ($14.6 million – $3.6 million winnings / $11 million endorsements)
4. Danica Patrick ($13.9 million – 7.9 million winnings / 6 million endorsements)
5. Ana Ivanovic ($8.3 million – $1.8 million winnings / $6.5 million endorsements)
6. Petra Kvitova ($7.7 million – $5.9 million winnings / $1.8 million endorsements)
7. Simona Halep ($6.8 million – $5.3 million winnings / $1.5 million endorsements)
8. Ronda Rousey ($6.5 million – $3 million winnings / $3.5 million endorsements)
9. Stacy Lewis ($6.4 million – $2.4 million winnings / $4 million endorsements)
10. Agnieszka Radwanska ($6 million – $2 million winnings / $4 million endorsements)
(Via Forbes)
