Israel Adesanya Talking Like a Union Boss

[ReadWrite]

Three Ways to Improve the UFC for Fighters

1. “Definitely give fighters control of the uniform. I understand you want to have the fight kit — yeah, cool story, bro — but let fighters have creative control of the design of their shorts, of their attire. At least let the certain marquee guys, the guys in the top 10 maybe, have control of their attire.”

2. “Definitely pay some of the lower-tier fighters a little bit more. Because sometimes they’re losing money. They fly extra cornermen in. They have to survive camp. I’m not saying pay them hundreds of thousands, just saying a little bit more, so they can take care of those costs.”

3. “Raise the bonus. It’s time. It’s been that way for a long time, $50K. It’s nice — don’t get me wrong — especially when you convert it to New Zealand dollars, but I think it’s time to bump it up to, like, $80K. And then for special events like the one I just had, the stadium show [for UFC 243 before a record live crowd in Australia], bump it to like $120K U.S.”

https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/28067039/israel-adesanya-jon-jones-trolling-skills-bmf-belt-improving-ufc

 

[Klaavical]

He's not wrong

 

[Grijswaarde]

Fair enough.

 

[Londonjitsu]

The first champion since Aldo who's been saying this stuff.

 

[TheJohnnyWalkerEra]

Those are actually all perfect suggestions

I'm liking this guy more all the time

 

[tinker_190]

100% agreed about the uniform. Everyone dressing the same looks like garbage. This isn't a league thing, so do it like boxing.

 

[smooth assassin]

I’m just happy he didn’t reference another meme

 

[mb23100]

Adesanya's

 

[Hellowhosthat]

He's absolutely right about the bonus, it's been the same for ten years and the revenue has massively increased.

Should be 100k at least.

 

[KeepItRealist]

The 50K bonuses and Reebok pay show you how cheap the UFC truly is. When they standardized the bonuses, rather than going with a higher number, they chose $50K, which was less than the bonuses for the PPV cards for years. And it's still $40K for champions in Reebok. That's crazy.

 

[AKA_Steve_B]

Damn, I agree .....

 

[chitoortiz]

Should definitely be more than $50K

Revenue has gone way up.

They used to give out $100/120K at some of the bigger shows.

Like 10 years ago.

 

[sipatai]

point 1 and 2 is ok, but the increase on point 3 seems not a reasonable demand, it is more than 50 percent increased. From 50k to 60k is more reasonable amount, point 3 made his opinion look not that serious

 

[Bangkok ready d1]

Haha i dont give a fuck- dana white

 

[Kneeuinthenutz]

He seems to be speaking like someone with common sense.

 

[greenseeker]

For an org that wants all its fighters on social media building their brand, you'd think they'd recognize that having some level of personalization on their fight gear -- even if it's fundamentally the same stuff they wear now -- would be a big boost to fighter branding. Fans would buy that gear the same way they buy hockey, football, and basketball jerseys.

 

[Diego's Cross]

“Definitely give fighters control of the uniform. I understand you want to have the fight kit — yeah, cool story, bro — but let fighters have creative control of the design of their shorts, of their attire. At least let the certain marquee guys, the guys in the top 10 maybe, have control of their attire.”

I agree, bring back the Hallman speedos

 

[Mahkor]

it's about time they upgrade the bonus system to a finish bonus + fight of the night.

 

[slicebergjim]

 

[Sirwastealot]

I'm surprised by how reasonable it is, especially the last one.

Wants to bump bonus up from 50k to 80k. It's been at 50 for a long time, and i'm sure with the way UFC has grown they can easily do that without hurting their bottomline.

Usually what you hear from fighters is things like "fuck 50k i'm not interested unless it's at least a million" which is like good luck with that buddy.