The UFC White House event dubbed ‘UFC Freedome 250’ was the promotion’s most ambitious event in it’s three decade long existance. And according to Dana White, they spent over $60 million to bring the spectacle to life. With that level of expenditure on a single event, many likely felt the 14 fighters competing on the historic card would receive equally massive paydays. While the event’s headliners reportedly earned considerable compensation, Sean O’Malley’s recent admission reveals he made considerably less for his bout against Canadian Aiemann Zahabi.

During an appearance on the One Night with Steiny podcast, host Steiny told the former bantamweight champion that he had heard his payout was around $600,000 for his UFC Freedom 250 win over Zahabi. Reacting to that figure, the 135-pound star admitted it was close, but far less than what he had made during his earlier title run in the promotion.

“It’s closeish. Title fights were for more money, for sure,” O’Malley said. “It definitely sucks, yeah. Like the Aljo fight, I was the challenger, I wasn’t defending the belt, so it was decent. The Chito one was more. Then the Merab one was more, and then the Merab one was less. And the Song one was way less, and then this one was around the same.”

When it comes to Sean O’Malley’s purse for the UFC White House card, the former bantamweight champion has definitely seen better days. For his title defense against Marlon Vera at UFC 299, O’Malley reportedly earned around $2 million. Then came his biggest reported payday against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 inside Sphere in September 2024 in his second title defense, where he reportedly made $3.24 million. But after he lost the title in the fight, the rematch against the Georgian at UFC 316 in June 2025 reportedly brought him only $1.98 million. However, the UFC gradually decreasing O’Malley’s payout isn’t exactly unusual.

As per the norm, the champions generally earn more money than the other fighters, and once a fighter loses the belt, those numbers can start to drop. In O’Malley’s case, back-to-back losses against Merab likely affected his pay. Still, while discussing fighter purses, ‘Suga’ also questioned Alex Pereira’s reported $10 million payday for his June 14 bout against Ciryl Gane on the same card.

“I think he should, but do I think he made $10 million? No,” O’Malley added. “No shot in hell. I mean, Dana said he put $60 million on this card. So I would say no, but it’s hard.”

Well, it definitely sounds surprising that Dana White would spend $10 million on a single fighter for an event that reportedly cost $60 million to put together. However, Daniel Cormier previously claimed in an interview with Alex Pereira that the UFC paid him around that amount for the White House fight. While there’s no official confirmation from the UFC that ‘Poatan’ earned $10 million for the UFC White House fight, the promotion was reportedly willing to offer Jon Jones $15 million for the event. In that case, it might not be a stretch to believe Pereira received a similar payday, considering he voluntarily vacated his light heavyweight title for the bout.

Now, while Sean O’Malley isn’t happy with how much he got paid, another controversial White House card star has revealed a completely different experience.

Josh Hokit reveals controversial UFC White House comments led to a bigger payday

At UFC Freedom 250, Josh Hokit turned heads with his controversial comments about Michelle Obama. As such, he drew the ire of many fans, well-known figures, and even received criticism from Dana White. Still, the heavyweight star revealed that the backlash did not cost him any sponsors. In fact, Hokit claims the controversy has actually helped him financially, with the UFC newcomer expecting to earn between $3 million and $4 million this year.

“No, if anything, I gained more money,” Hokit told Ariel Helwani. “Yeah, maybe you’re looking at… maybe I will coach a class on this one day. But I got seven figures in seven months. Just put it like that. So by the end of the year, this might be a 3 to 4 million dollar year.”

Based on the estimated UFC Freedom 250 payouts, Josh Hokit was expected to earn a base purse of around $300,000 to $400,000. Combined with sponsorship deals and other opportunities, he could definitely be on track for a multi-million-dollar year if he remains active. For Hokit, that would be a remarkable financial achievement, especially considering it has not even been a full year since he entered the UFC.

With Sean O’Malley’s purse now somewhat revealed, it also reinforces the idea that the UFC pays its fighters largely based on their current status and drawing power rather than the scale of a particular event.