Are fighters making more nowadays than 10 years ago?
- Thread starter barillas
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Just like back in the day some are being paid relatively well while others are fighting for peanuts. In short not much has changed, there are more opportunities to get paid but it's up to the fighter to take advantage of them.
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http://www.mmamania.com/2007/07/09/ufc-73-fighter-paydays-and-salaries
http://www.mmamania.com/2015/2/2/79...ilva-scores-800k-nick-diaz-banks-half-million
Back in 2009 the lower paid guys were looking at $3k + $3k. Now it's more like $13k + 13K.
The real issue for the lower guys is the sponsorship money, because while they were only getting $3-6k from the UFC, they were getting a few times that extra from sponsors. Now they only get a slight bump in pay from Reebok if they're newer fighters.
http://www.mmamania.com/2015/2/2/79...ilva-scores-800k-nick-diaz-banks-half-million
Back in 2009 the lower paid guys were looking at $3k + $3k. Now it's more like $13k + 13K.
The real issue for the lower guys is the sponsorship money, because while they were only getting $3-6k from the UFC, they were getting a few times that extra from sponsors. Now they only get a slight bump in pay from Reebok if they're newer fighters.
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The pride Grand Prix winner I think made 100,000 and I think that was over 5 fights, The first live MMA event I ever went to in 2003 the winner got 1,000 and the loser got 500. Andy Foster and Melvin Gullard fought that night so it was a legit event.
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If you take into consideration inflation, Gross domestic product, % change, Industrial production, % change, Consumer prices % change, the unemployment rate and how the dollar is trading against the Chinese Yuan...?
Maybe.
Maybe.
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This is nonsense. Except for a rare few, fighters make much more, net-net, under reebok. Probably 80-90% are better off now.
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I never said anything that contradicts this statement.
I was attempting to illustrate that "pay" isn't simply a number generated by the UFC, but rather the UFC plus sponsors. By your own admittance this is true. Also, by your own admittance, some people are making more despite the lowered sponsor money, and some are not. But you, like me, don't know exactly what percent that would be. So.... we're pretty much saying the same thing.
And I summed this up in the post just before it, when I answered "yes." As in, yes, in general, fighters are making more now, then they were a decade or so ago. I simply tacked on another post to explain that it may be not be the case in certain circumstances, which is what you are saying as well.....
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Maybe you should do some research. In 2006 there were times when the entire fight card made the same as Diego Sanchez makes now.
Here is the UFC 62 (Biggest card ever at the time) card pay out
Chuck Liddell: $250,000
Forrest Griffin: $32,000
Renato "Babalu" Sobral: $21,000
Nick Diaz: $20,000
Stephan Bonnar: $16,000
Cheick Kongo: $12,000
Hermes Franca: $12,000
Yushin Okami: $8,000
Josh Neer: $6,000
Rob MacDonald: $5,000
David Heath: $4,000
Eric Schafer: $4,000
Wilson Gouveia: $4,000
Alan Belcher: $3,000
Christian Wellisch: $3,000
Jamie Varner: $3,000
Wes Combs: $2,000
Cory Walmsley: $2,000
Total Fighter Payouts: $407,000
Here is the payout for last years biggest card UFC 194
- Conor McGregor: $500,000 (no win bonus) def. José Aldo: $400,000
- Luke Rockhold: $160,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus) def. Chris Weidman: $275,000
- Yoel Romero: $150,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Ronaldo Souza: $135,000
- Demian Maia: $156,000 (includes $78,000 win bonus) def. Gunnar Nelson: $75,000
- Max Holloway: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus) def. Jeremy Stephens: $43,000
- Urijah Faber: $300,000 (includes $150,000 win bonus) def. Frankie Saenz: $20,000
- Tecia Torres: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger: $10,000
- Warlley Alves: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus) def. Colby Covington: $18,000
- Leonardo Santos: $40,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus) def. Kevin Lee: $21,000
- Magomed Mustafaev: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Joe Proctor: $13,000
- Yancy Medeiros: $42,000 (includes $21,000 win bonus) def. John Makdessi: $30,000
- Court McGee: $48,000 (includes $24,000 win bonus) def. Marcio Alexandre Jr.: $12,000
How the fuck is that "not much has changed"? Fighter pay needs to be higher still, but it has DRASTICALLY improved in the last 10 years.
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I wonder how money actually goes in fighters pocket now vs. ten years ago. More money from UFC but less from sponsors and more expensive training cost. Would be a good documentary for someone into that sort of thing to produce.
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That Reebok money has these fighters making BANK. It basically guarantees every fighter can afford a used car, pre-2005, but their on their own for insurance. Ballin'!!!
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We live in corporate America. Workers will get paid just enough so they don't revolt and the owners will take most of the profits.
Bellator can't afford to give all of the UFC fighters a raise and they certainly are not going to give the 10/10 or 20/20 guys a raise. Bellator is good for the middle tier guys like Benson, Sterling, and Gil.
Bellator can't afford to give all of the UFC fighters a raise and they certainly are not going to give the 10/10 or 20/20 guys a raise. Bellator is good for the middle tier guys like Benson, Sterling, and Gil.
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are we controlling for interest?
Didn't Gil say he worked a PPV bonus into his contract? Can't see Bellator paying that.
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It's amazing how much more they make considering the have almost 600 fighters now and they fight more often. I seriously think the UFC can't afford to pay fighters more unless the sport grows exponentially and they shave a couple hundred off the roster. No way do they need that many fighters
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Well in general the average fighter is much much better taken care of. Back then a guy might only get $2k to fight, and maybe $3k-10k in sponsorship money.
And a mid-tier guy was maybe getting $20k back then, and might be getting $60k now.
When only comparing recent years in terms of pre and post Reebok (2014 vs 2016), there is more room for fighters to get the raw end of the deal. A guy that was getting say $50k + $50k (win money) + $20k sponsors, might now get the same UFC pay, but only $5k from Reebok, resulting in a significant pay cut. So if this guy wins, it's $120k vs $105k (about 10% cut). If he loses, it's $70k vs $55k (about a 20% cut.) There have been a few very vocal guys talking about this, but it's hard to know, since there's possibly (and probably) a chunk of fighters that don't want to rock the boat by speaking out while under contract.
At the highest level the fighters are doing waaaaaaay better, no matter what the sponsors pay. Back then a fighter might pull in $250k for a fight, and some sponsorship cash too. Now, with a cut of the PPV sales, a big name can make a couple million in a fight. The very top tier fighters are making probably 5-10 times more money than the guys in 2006.
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Well we know Randy got a PPV cut and likely guys like Tito and Chuck too so they likely made much more then 250k. But yeah, the top guys (and really everyone) make much more today
