Do you think UFC pay is stopping top athletes to become MMA fighters?

[Bret 'The Hitman' Hart]

You're a 20yo elite athlete? No way you'll want to become one of Dana White's slaves and get punched in the face for $10,000 per fight. You'll try your luck in another, less dangerous sport that pays more first.

No matter how much we love MMA, the UFC is still a bush league sport under DW.

 

[Ozze]

Don't think it's close to the way people in here make it sound like.
It can be a factor, but I really doubt it.

Top athletes from other sports like soccer, football, basketball, etc., are playing that since they were kids.
By the time they are a teen, thinking about what to do with their life, they pretty much know what path they will take.

I really doubt that there's some 15 year old kid thinking "Should I try the NFL or MMA? Well, NFL has better pay so I'll go there."
MMA is not even an option for them. MMA is for those guys who like fighting, are already fighters, and see the UFC as the place with the best salaries.

 

[AdamWarlock]

Threads like these show how skewed the perspective of earning is. Yes, for an American maybe 100-200k a year is something you can make by doing an office job, but to a guy from, say, Dagestan? It’s a load of money. Mma will continue attracting a lot of talent, but the really good ones will more likely than not be from poor countries.

sure if you live in a third world country that kind of money is considered rich but how you also have close to zero percent chance of making it to ufc too.

for example, china has like 1.4 billion people and only 1 champ and only 12 fighters in ufc

 

[rjmbrd]

A lot of wrestlers don't become MMA fighters because they don't want to be punched in the face. It's not like money is the only factor here.

Right, but we're discussing 'is money a factor' and the answer is unequivocally yes.

We crown 8 All-American Division I wrestlers in each weight class every single year, which is largely the best base for MMA. Where are all these guys?

At 12k to get brain damage, obviously that is a bad risk -vs- reward. The UFC as promoter currently shares ~13% of revenue generated from fights with the fighters. That is an absolutely atrocious deal.

If the revenue split was something remotely reasonable like 30%, the talent pool would double overnight. This is just common sense and basic economics.

 

[Ironheart]

It certainly has to be a factor.

First reply nailed it.

Hard to know for sure but I think it's a huge factor. It's a lot of physical abuse, the money would have to be enormous to pull people away from NBA, NFL, or MLB.

 

[Smegma-Head]

Freakshow-Payday<Basketball/Baseball/NFL/Soccer-Payday

 

[World eater]

sure if you live in a third world country that kind of money is considered rich but how you also have close to zero percent chance of making it to ufc too.

for example, china has like 1.4 billion people and only 1 champ and only 12 fighters in ufc

But to give another example, Dagestan has 3 million. The chinese do not usually go for this sport, but maybe it’s just a matter of time. India has a similar population and has very few fighters. Likewise, a lot of guys from Thailand compete in orgs across the world. The fact remains that “low pay” is an issue for a small part of the world.

 

[Alacran]

Not just the pay, but the lack of freedom from the contracts

 

[Zeta Reticuli]

If you get signed to play one of the REAL Sports... you are guaranteed to get paid, and get paid well.

The minimum salary in the NBA is $1.1Million per year. This means the worst guy in the league who may not even play a single game, and just sits on the bench.


Meanwhile Top UFC Star Wonderboy can't get paid because his opponent missed weight, despite already going through training camp and making weight himself.


Not to mention, the way UFC treats its top stars:
- Randy Couture was taken to court for years
- Liddell was fired from his managerial role after being promised a lifetime job
- GSP was thrown under the bus multiple times despite being a great company man
- Anderson was released with 1 fight left on contract after all he did for the company
- Jones vacated the belt for not being given a proper pay to fight at HW
- Conor held out for years and went to make real money in boxing
- Ngannou was ridiculed publicly for not rolling over and accepting UFC's terms, and is now going to boxing to make real money too


So you wanna be a f*cking fighter?
You do the math

 

[cmw43]

First reply nailed it.

Hard to know for sure but I think it's a huge factor. It's a lot of physical abuse, the money would have to be enormous to pull people away from NBA, NFL, or MLB.

99% of D1 college athletes don't make it to the pros, that's countless thousands of elite athletes who don't get their dream each year.

But it takes a certain type of person to want to get punched in the face for money.

There's 500k high school basketball players, 25k college players and just 450 in the NBA. That's a lot of great athletes who don't make it to the top.

Just cos NBA, NFL and MBL pay big money doesn't mean there's not tonnes of great athletes out there who didn't make it.

 

[Poatan Power]

I mean, sure. But you guys forget that being a fighter is not just about being athletic. If you wrestled in HS, sure. But if you're football/basketball/baseball, just because you're athletic at those things doesn't mean you can/would be good a punching people in the face or getting punched in the face. it's a different animal. Yeah athletics obviously helps, but, none of those sports have the same kind of contact that MMA does. Even in football the most violent guys on the field are the lineman and they're all 350 lbs lol.

Athleticism is important/useful, but what you do in combat arts is not as reliant on athleticism that the other sports use. Being able to sprint fast and jump high don't translate over nearly as much as you'd think.

 

[J-Pac]

Honestly I think the nature of the sport is enough of a deterrent as-is. If the pay were better, you'd get more guys, but I don't think top athletes would turn away from other sports. Getting hit in the face isn't for everyone. Even just wrestling is so gruelling compared to basically every team sport that after 1 or 2 practices most guys who try it out stop showing up. Matches/tournaments are another beast altogether. All that to say, if you are blessed with an athletic 6'5 frame, there are way less intense ways to be popular and make money. Most relief pitchers in the MLB for example toss a few nights a week and make enough to be wildly comfortable. Even if MMA paid that much, tossing baseballs in the middle of summer is a better life than having to fight the toughest SOBs on the planet.

 

[Brigfa2]

When you look at the facts every pro athlete has problem with their bodies. Even scripted pro wrestling does more damage to body than the MMA and i'm sure american football is worse than MMA too
It's more of a money and mental thing to not prefer fighting.

 

[Poatan Power]

Honestly I think the nature of the sport is enough of a deterrent as-is. If the pay were better, you'd get more guys, but I don't think top athletes would turn away from other sports. Getting hit in the face isn't for everyone. Even just wrestling is so gruelling compared to basically every team sport that after 1 or 2 practices most guys who try it out stop showing up. Matches/tournaments are another beast altogether. All that to say, if you are blessed with an athletic 6'5 frame, there are way less intense ways to be popular and make money. Most relief pitchers in the MLB for example toss a few nights a week and make enough to be wildly comfortable. Even if MMA paid that much, tossing baseballs in the middle of summer is a better life than having to fight the toughest SOBs on the planet.

+1 on this. Football players, specifically RB's and WR's, CB's and SS's make the most sense. I guess LB's, too. But only because of the physicality of the game. But even then, their propensity for violence is limited. People thinking fucking baseball players who throw a ball every 5th day or play a virtually 0 contact sport are just going to hop over to MMA and do well are living in the clouds. And fucking lol @ basketball. Those dudes "play physical" by bumping chests and not being allowed to touch each others wrists.

Yeah they can run/jump/lift/etc., but can you fight? That's a whole other ballgame. I think a lot of people don't understand that MMA gyms across the country are full of athletes, but they're not good fighters. They step into combat competition and choke.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Right, but we're discussing 'is money a factor' and the answer is unequivocally yes.

We crown 8 All-American Division I wrestlers in each weight class every single year, which is largely the best base for MMA. Where are all these guys?

At 12k to get brain damage, obviously that is a bad risk -vs- reward. The UFC as promoter currently shares ~13% of revenue generated from fights with the fighters. That is an absolutely atrocious deal.

If the revenue split was something remotely reasonable like 30%, the talent pool would double overnight. This is just common sense and basic economics.

A lot of them just don't want to get punched in the face. Just because someone was a good wrestler doesn't mean they have any desire whatsoever to do MMA.

 

[rjmbrd]

A lot of them just don't want to get punched in the face. Just because someone was a good wrestler doesn't mean they have any desire whatsoever to do MMA.

I have no desire to work in a fast food restaurant for $20/hour
I will show up to work in a fast food restaurant tomorrow for $10,000/hour

Why would this need to be explained?

 

[maximus__]

That's why so many talented fighters turn to boxing.
And the best athletes in the world do not bother with MMA

If being in the Ufc only get you 100k a year and you have to pay your coaches and gym and taxes etc you get 50k in pocket then this isnt better than any office job in America, why would you risk brain damage for a job where you barely make ends meet.

Just seem like if your dream is to become a UFC fighter even if your dream came true it's not that good. I can't even imagine the fighters not making it in Ufc they probably need other side job just to survive

That's if you make it to the Ufc, and once you are out of Ufc what are you going to do? Are you going to be a trainer for younger fighter?

Seem like it's such a thankless sport.

It could have something to do with the fact that you have to basically train 3+ separate sports.
Why not just focus on one sport?

The positive with MMA is it's probably easier to be come the champion because you don't have to be the greatest at any one thing.

 

[MMA_AZ]

This.

If people dont aint got the built in hunger to throw hands,shoot for deep doubles....then I dont care how athletic they are,or how much money they need to make in order to do it. We need more fighters,not athletes. All the guys who came up boxing and dont know a wristlock from a wristwatch and dont care to learn,well I dont lose sleep over them going and doing their thing in boxing. Im fine w MMA as it is. The tough motherfuckers who are about this shit,will come to the sport and do it.

Takes a different breed for sure

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I have no desire to work in a fast food restaurant for $20/hour
I will show up to work in a fast food restaurant tomorrow for $10,000/hour

Why would this need to be explained?

That's a little bit different dude. You don't get brain damage working in fast food.

 

[rjmbrd]

That's a little bit different dude. You don't get brain damage working in fast food.

You get brain damage as a NFL athlete, in addition to overall potential for grave bodily injury. The NFL has tens of thousands of willing participants who want in but cannot make the cut.

The reason there are tens of thousands of willing participants for the NFL, at all times, where they have a high chance of brain damage and/or bodily harm, is because the pay is high.

I cannot believe I am typing out an explanation of "risk vs reward."

UFC pay is absolutely atrocious. Of course you are not attracting suitably young, suitably athletic young men at 12k. That only attracts people with no other options.