We can't compare UFC fighters to any of the top tier sports, that would not be fair for a number of reasons (A level vs. D level). In all seriousness the North American big 4 leagues are team oriented sports, with players unions, whereas UFC fighters are all individual contractors which is most like golfers and tennis players.
The median income for FEMALE golfers on the LPGA tour (not even counting men on the PGA tour) is $141K, that's factoring in everyone. If you look at the top 10 percent of FEMALE golfers, it's $1.3M
https://work.chron.com/salary-range-women-pro-golfers-2627.html
"
According to the most recent LPGA money list, the median income for all players is $141,428. The top 10 percent of players earned a median of $1,320,900 and played in at least 20 tournaments. The lowest 10 percent only brought in $5,924 and may have only played in 10 to 15 tournaments. Median means that half of the players earned more than this amount and half earned less."
This other link talks about a typical #50th best golfer in the world for both men and women, in terms of cash flow:
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2020/01/11/truth-behind-tournament-paychecks-pga-tour-lpga/
Men #50 take home pay: $1.27M
Women #50 take home pay: $125K
I'm going to take the top 10 in each of the UFC weight classes
https://www.ufc.com/rankings
Men's FlyW: Tim Elliot i'm going to be generous he made $89K in his latest fight, and assume he will have another payday like that in 2021. $178K pre tax, assume taxes of 30%, manager 10%, trainer 10%
Take home pay: $89K
7% compared to top 50 male golfer
71% compared to top 50 female golfer
he could exceed that if he had a 3rd win in the year
Men's BW:
Raphael Assuncao
https://www.sportekz.com/mma/raphael-assuncao-net-worth/
$1.35M pre tax gross from 2016 to 2020
Men's FW:
Arnold Allen
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/23359-arnold-allen
Pre tax gross career earnings $164K
Men's LW:
Paul Felder
https://thesportsdaily.com/2020/11/14/paul-felder-career-earnings-fox11/
$1.15M pre tax gross covering from 2014 to 2020
Men's WW:
Vicente Luque just came off the biggest win of his career, so maybe his future is bright?
https://thesportsdaily.com/2021/03/28/vicente-luque-career-earnings-fox11/
$1.7M Pre tax gross, starting out in 2015 let's say his take home pay after all that time is $1M still less than 1 year of a top 50 male golfer's pay
Men's MW:
Kevin Holland
https://mmasalaries.com/kevin-holland-career-earnings-net-worth-and-info/
got a big jump in pay for his Jacare fight, but just lost a fight as the main event guy, suffering a set back. In total pre tax gross of $900K since March 2019. Net pay assumption ~450K for 2 years
Men's LHW:
Johnny Walker
https://thesportsdaily.com/2020/09/19/johnny-walker-career-earnings-fox11/
Career earnings $495K, net that out to $250K since Nov 2018
So he's basically taking home a little less than the 50th rank LPGA golfer
Men's HW:
Chris Daukaus
https://www.sportekz.com/mma/ufc-252-salaries-purse-payouts/
https://www.sportekz.com/mma/ufc-252-salaries-purse-payouts/
let's just say he hasn't made very much for being
Overall i knew MMA fighters made way less than golfer, but this is really glaring, and even comparing to female LPGA golfers they're still behind.