5 things that fans may have forgotten about UFC 229: Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

#4. Derrick Lewis earned a UFC heavyweight title shot on four weeks’ notice with his win over Alexander Volkov

Derrick Lewis's win over Alexander Volkov at UFC 229 earned him a late-notice title shot

UFC 229’s main event was so shocking that the majority of the event’s undercard has since been forgotten. However, the show was in fact one of the greatest in UFC history, with a number of thrilling bouts on offer.

One such clash saw Derrick Lewis pull off one of the best comebacks in UFC history. He knocked out Alexander Volkov with just eleven seconds remaining in the third round of their fight.

Prior to the knockout, ‘The Black Beast’ had barely landed a strike on ‘Drago’, who seemed to be cruising to a victory. What many fans have forgotten, though, is that Lewis was rewarded for his efforts with a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. Incredibly, that shot came just four weeks after UFC 229 in the main event of UFC 230.

The show saw Lewis fight then-UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for the title. Unfortunately, ‘The Black Beast’ came up short in a relatively one-sided encounter. The fact that Lewis even fought for the UFC heavyweight title now seems to have been forgotten. The failed shot was barely mentioned during the build to his most recent title fight at UFC 265.

In a sense, it’s a testament to the impact of UFC 229 that despite being a strong show in its own right, nobody really remembers UFC 230 three years on.

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#3. Jalin Turner made just $10k for his fight with Vicente Luque

Jalin Turner made just $10k for his loss to Vicente Luque at UFC 229

UFC 229 ended up pulling in an estimated 2.4 million buys on pay-per-view, while the live gate alone drew a massive $17,188,894.67. Essentially, no show in UFC history has brought so much money into the promotion’s coffers.

Naturally, the payouts for the show were also pretty monstrous. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor received $2m and $3m respectively. Both fighters probably earned far more than that due to receiving their cuts of the pay-per-view revenue.

Outside of the headliners, the likes of Tony Ferguson ($155k), Anthony Pettis ($145k) and Derrick Lewis ($270k) also received hefty payouts. However, as is the way with the UFC’s pay structure, a handful of fighters made very little in comparison to McGregor and Nurmagomedov.

If the payouts received by Yana Kunitskaya ($50k) and Felice Herrig ($40k) seem low, though, it’s worth sparing a thought for Jalin Turner. ‘The Tarantula’ made his UFC debut at the event. Despite the show being arguably the biggest in UFC history, he made just $10k for his efforts.

Worse still, Turner lasted just under four minutes with opponent Vicente Luque. He was hugely overmatched by ‘The Silent Assassin’ and fell to a first round TKO.

Turner’s payout from UFC 229 has long been forgotten by fans and was ignored in the first place. However, it remains a stark reminder that the promotion’s pay structure still has a long way to go before it becomes fair to all of its athletes.