They are boxers that have no mainstream name recognition. You are deliberately dodging my point and trying to strawman my position in order to avoid responding to my actual position, because you know I'm right. They have no name recognition in average sports fan households. Are you going to try and argue that George Kambosos, Caleb Plant, Devin Haney, etc., have as much or more name recognition than Francis Ngannou? As far as mainstream sporting goes - those are no-name boxers. They are world champions. They have strong followings and fandoms in their local areas. But they are still no-name boxers in the world of sports.
Btw, who is this undercard "champion" you keep referring to? Are you talking about Joe Goodall? Who has 13 total professional fights? Who is the WBC "Australsia" "Champion"? That is not a world champion my guy. He held a regional title from one of the four boxing major boxing organizations. In MMA, he is the equivalent of being a top 5 regional fighter. And yet he is making $300,000 on boxing undercards? Again - you think that's an own? When in reality it just adds MORE evidence to the point that pay in MMA is dogshit? Excluding Alex Pereira and Ronda Rousey - can you name me any professional mixed martial artists that are making $300k in only 13 pro fights? I'm still waiting for you to name me one single mixed martial artist on a UFC undercard that has made 300k or more.
Arnold Barboza Jr, the WBO Intercontinental junior welterweight champion, was who I was talking about. While I won't delve into your seeming belief in your authority of arbitration on who is a real champion "my guy", I will address your other point, zoomer. "Let me cook" as you probably say.
I'm not "dodging" your point because it is formulated as a hypothetical strawman fallacy comparing only the name recognition of Ngannou vs George Kambosos in the average sports fan households and alluding that it is conclusive evidence of what was specifically stated "No name boxers getting 20x the money Francis was offered." The way you structure your argument is the way every Logic 101 student does before they graduate to Phil 102, so let's use the Socratic method and address the actual claim you made instead of the run around talk that includes you speaking to an imaginary sports fan who "knows that big scary African fucker".
Francis was offered $8 million for the Jon Jones fight alone (
Frank's own words). Let's say he was offered only $8 million for the total contract of 4-5 fights.
Which "no-name" boxer, again the ones you have listed who have literally headlined PPVs in the last few days like Lomanchenko, nor the likes of Devin Haney or Caleb Plant are "no-name boxers" are being offered $160 million for a fight?
Let's scratch that, how many boxers in general are getting offered purses like that?
Let's recall the top 5 boxing purses ever paid out
5. Floyd Mayweather (vs. Canelo Alvarez)
Reported Payout: $80 Million
4. Conor McGregor (vs. Floyd Mayweather)
Reported Payout: $130 Million
3. Manny Pacquiao (vs. Floyd Mayweather)
Reported Payout: $150 Million
2. Floyd Mayweather (vs. Manny Pacquiao)
Reported Payout: $250 Million
1. Floyd Mayweather (vs. Conor McGregor)
Reported Payout: $280 Million
Unless you're dishonestly trying to argue that Francis was "offered" $600,000, which he
was not, that was his old pre-champion contract that he fought all the way out with the Gane fight, there isn't a single fucking boxer not named Floyd Mayweather that's getting paid 20x what Francis was offered by the UFC.
Not many people on this forum will argue against fighters being paid more. Everyone wants people they feel some emotional connection to, yes even only in a parasocial sense such a fans of athletes, to do well.
I am one of those people.
However, I am not one of those people that thinks just because you are a pugilist, you automatically deserve hundreds of millions of dollars per bout. They deserve a wage they can live comfortably on, health benefits, and a retirement pension, just like I think any person living in this country deserves.
I don't find the idea of deifying athletes with more money in a single fight than a pediatric heart surgeon will make in a hundred life times to be pertinent to the health of the sport, as boxing has repeatedly shown us over the last few decades with stagnant divisions, rank squatting, fight ducking, etc. This is beginning to bleed into MMA and has been since Conor McGregor's invention of the "red panty night".
Does the UFC pay less than it should?
Yes, especially with the percentage of revenue they are taking in, the athletes in the UFC are underpaid. The UFC isn't just as the bald goof says "an opportunity", it is a job as the star contractor in a corporation that makes billions. Their opportunity in the company is their version of the upward mobility expected in any company, especially ones that are paid on commission (any sherdoggers having worked for commission will understand what I mean), so I do agree with most people that fighters should have the basics that an employee of any other company gets: a living wage, insurance and other long term benefits, and a retirement.
The UFC currently doesn't even pay some fighters a wage they can live on, as many have second jobs. That is an issue that must be remediated, and one of the only ways to do that is through a large class action lawsuit (too bad Cung Le and co took the payout instead of sticking to their moral guns as they claimed they would) or the creation of a fighters union (see previous statement about Cung Le and co).
No fighter should have to have a second job out of necessity (someones like Al Iaquinta doesn't count).
The UFC should pay more on average.
There should be a long term healthcare plan for them as well. This isn't only a problem of the UFC's fault, currently there isn't a single insurance provider that will cover the UFC as an organization. When you think about it, the reasons are obvious, with possibly thousands to tens of thousands of claims a year. This is an issue I do not see a resolution for, as the premiums the UFC would pay would be truly astronomical.
Some people like to point to the
NFL's healthcare, which on the surface seems like the perfect solution, until you hear from the players later that got through the fine print and realized that their benefits only lasted for 5 years after retirement, while afterwards to keep the same or similar coverage they were receiving, they were expected to pay upwards of $35,000 a year for coverage, a conversation that was had after
Damar Hamlin's heart attack on the field not too long ago, where if the NFL chose to go with their usual contracts, they would leave the Hamlin family with about $900k total (that's exactly what the NFL did) while the Hamlin famiily had to set up a GoFundme for their son.
Unfortunately, with the further corporatization of the UFC, and many of its earning being directly used to pay off TKO's other debts, a general increase in fighters QOL will not happen without a direct, concentrated, and organized effort by the fighters themselves. Look at boxers. They have a union. Joint Association of Boxers, JAB. Everything they ask for is everything any of us could want for MMA fighters.
What is the last thing you heard JAB doing for fucking boxers? Fuck all.
To close out and to answer your final question, Andrei Arlovski often fights on the undercard and makes at least $300k per fight as of 2020 at least, not just PPV undercards but Fight Night undercards. He just fought on the prelim of UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi, on the prelim of UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen, and the prelim of his last PPV event, UFC 271.