Media Judges receive $300 per Apex event and $500 for a PPV event, reveals Gilbert Burns.

[samuelsoncast]

No he s not. That's a 120K/year job, on a 5 days work per week at 500$/day. Now it sounds like a pretty cool gig if you like MMA but it's high stress, high pressure and tiring if you don't. 120K is not a very high salary if you live in Vegas or NY. Unless you don't, in which case they fly you in, which makes it even more tiring.

120k a year in NY will get you a 10x10ft basement self contained slum

 

[TempleoftheDog]

It's fake news. We already know the NSAC judges for UFC 296 were paid $2,300 back in December and CSAC pays a minimum of $1,600 for title fights:

UFC 296 officials announced for Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington, Alexandre Pantoja vs. Brandon Royval

Find out who will look in on the two title fights atop the UFC 296 lineup in Las Vegas.

mmajunkie.usatoday.com

I remember reading something about what a “promotor” has to do to get an event license. And I remember the numbers being higher than listed in the OP.

Good catch.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Have you fought or cornered on a professional mma card before? The athletic commissioners are all there all day.

events do not last all day. Either way $500 a day is decent money

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Agree. But this “odd job” has huge ramifications on the lives, families and careers of the fighters. The UFC should double that at the very least and make sure they’re only working with the best of the best

UFC doesn't pay the judges, that's on the athletic commission. Them paying the judges would be a serious conflict of interests.

 

[TerrorTimmy]

They are getting paid and have the best seats in the house. Sounds like a win-win.

I would agree except that underpaying them can certainly set the stage for manipulation if they accept money to score a fight the way someone wants them to.

And looking at their decisions sometimes, the question has to be asked if they're actually scoring the fights so terribly or if they're taking money to score it a certain way.

If fighters have admitted to taking money to take a dive, why is it far-fetched that judges take money to score a fight a different way?

Much like point-shaving, it could even be to turn a unanimous decision into a split, if someone has money riding on a split decision, for example. The outcome doesn't change but someone makes a lot more money on the betting side.

But then again I never trust the UFC or the judges, so.

 

[KXNGRETURN]

Don’t you worry, Dana takes care of them in the back with the “locker room bonuses.” He slips this in and says, “I got you, bud”

Spoiler

View attachment 1038634

He pay them more then fighter

 

[Tweak896]

Will people here start yelling for judges pay to increase?

 

[deadshot138]

Agree. 300-500 for a 10-12 hour day isn’t great

$50 an hour to sit on your ass and watch fights?

 

[xhaydenx]

No he s not. That's a 120K/year job, on a 5 days work per week at 500$/day. Now it sounds like a pretty cool gig if you like MMA but it's high stress, high pressure and tiring if you don't. 120K is not a very high salary if you live in Vegas or NY. Unless you don't, in which case they fly you in, which makes it even more tiring.

Even if the pay is $500 a day, these judges aren't getting paid for 5 days a week. They're only working 1-2 max. So it's not 120k a year it's 26k if they work just 1 event a week.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Per fight or per night?

Gotta be per fight. I also don't take Gilbert Burns word as gospel on this.

 

[gentel]

Gotta be per fight. I also don't take Gilbert Burns word as gospel on this.

"According to official data from the California Commission, Judges make approximately $1600 per UFC event. In contrast, the referees make around $1900 per event."

-EssentiallySports article

 

[Neck&Neck]

Herb “Big Smoke” Dean doesn’t enter an Octagon until he sees at least 1 Milly cash

 

[checktheknuckles]

This doesn’t include backroom bonuses

People consistently underestimating the valueablilty of those Reebok coupons.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Plus if you can smoke and drink inbetween fights like Kiethy P,
Then that’s a sweet gig

 

[Hank Grill]

They are getting paid and have the best seats in the house. Sounds like a win-win.

And they get to fuck the fighters for free

 

[Clark Rogers]

UFC doesn't pay the judges, that's on the athletic commission. Them paying the judges would be a serious conflict of interests.

This place is clearly more concerned with being in other people's wallets than any actual fact checking.

 

[GrantB13]

Shit, looks like some people are scoffing at that pay. Up to $500 for a single night's work? Events might last 7 hours or so and they aren't even doing anything for a big portion of that. Surely their job consists of more work than a sporadically scheduled Saturday evening or they have another job outside of that. So they get paid $300-500 for that night and then still work a full time job on top.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

And all the free beer they can stomach, seemingly before the event, considering some of their scores.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Ur dumb

Not that Gilbert's numbers should be believed, but you do need to be certified. You have to get trained, and you don't start as a judge. You start as an inspector and then you do "shadow scoring" where you score a fight but your score isn't actually submitted, and some states require you to have minimum of 200 rounds of experience before professionally judging an event. Doing all that and then assuming you arrange your own travel to these events, 300-500 IS shit, and saying anything otherwise is really fucking stupid.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

"According to official data from the California Commission, Judges make approximately $1600 per UFC event. In contrast, the referees make around $1900 per event."

-EssentiallySports article

I have to wonder as well if that is what they clear. Do they get their travel and accomodation covered? If they do 40 events per year that is $64k. Frankly for the Top MMA promotion to have officials make that kind of money is sad.

NHL full time ref 1st year salary $200k
NBA starts at $250k
MLB $150k

That's starting salaries. They go up from there to $500k +
MMA is still young but the UFC is a huge cash cow and their revenues are very high relative to their size in the sport entertainment market.