Japanese newspaper Gendai Network is reporting that former Olympic judo gold medalist and PRIDE veteran Hidehiko Yoshida made 300 million yen (approximately USD$2.8 million) per PRIDE fight last year.

If true, a case can be made that Yoshida is the highest paid fighter in MMA. The salaries of Kazushi Sakuraba (with PRIDE), Rickson Gracie and Bob Sapp (both with K-1) are not fully known, but thought to also be similar to Yoshida's.