Media Eddie Hearn explains why he's impressed with the UFC's pay model

[shunyata]

"What really impresses me most, is the level of exploitation Dana is able to get away with.

Wow."

 

[HNIC215]

Money is worthless, real power is people.
Real strength is in the streets where everybody's equal.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

 

[Thy]

Never heard of him.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

 

[El Fernas]

Promoters in general are full of shit, but at least you know for sure a boxer selling 1 million PPV made way more than the UFC counterpart selling 1 million too...fact.

 

[Söze Aldo]

"What really impresses me most, is the level of exploitation Dana is able to get away with.

Wow."

That's literally it. He's in absolute awe that there are no laws to stop what Dana is doing, like there are in Boxing (for now).

 

[europe1]

UFC fighters want to be paid generously.

But they want Dana to give them their pay-increase out of pure benevolvence. A sign of how beloved and important they are as fighters. They want him to: "Do them a solid" like a good unc.

Collective bargining, players association, unions, (actual) managers who can negotiate, these things are effeminate. Standing up to a billionare means that you're gay.

They maintain these delusions until they're old and no longer valuable.

 

[Söze Aldo]

UFC fighters want to be paid generously.

But they want Dana to give them their pay-increase out of pure benevolvence. A sign of how beloved and important they are as fighters. They want him to: "Do them a solid" like a good unc.

Collective bargining, players association, unions, (actual) managers who can negotiate, these things are effeminate. Standing up to a billionare means that you're gay.

They maintain these delusions until they're old and no longer valuable.

There are literally UFC fighter managers now who negotiate to the benefit of the UFC more than their own clients.

 

[europe1]

There are literally UFC fighter managers now who negotiate to the benefit of the UFC more than their own clients.

One guy I think was really interesting is Robert Whittaker. He hired a manager -- a talent agent -- who normally represents normal-ass celebrities and musicians and such, rather than MMA fighters (Titus Day). Think it really annoyed Dana. But he's the only one I can think of who did that.

 

[SuperNerd]

I've been over Dana for quite awhile

At this point, I'm eager for Dana White to retire, so all these uncultured MMA fans with no other interests or experiences can realize what an entertaining gift Dana has been to MMA.

When he's replaced with some uncharismatic man who doesn't care to be a character, doesn't engage like Dana, and it's hard to project your Vince McMahon/Fighting-The-Power fantasies onto, you guys are gonna call MMA boring because there aren't as many interesting stories to follow/invent. Or worse, someone who fakes it all and is a Dana impersonation.

 

[CC27]

You'll notice Dana said very little about the viewership numbers. He tried to do his "we'll have numbers on Tuesday" line to deflect the question. But the nearly 6M peak viewers number leaked from Paramount+ anyway, and Dana didn't even re-post it on X.

If some fighters start drawing in the 10-20 million viewer range, the UFC will have no choice but to pay them more, or risk them simply refusing to fight. And this becomes like a series of dominos. If the UFC gives Topuria, Jones, Makhachev, Pereira, or Khamzat a 10-20 million purse for one fight (with viewership bonus pay), then other fighters will start demanding salary increases too.

This is actually very dangerous for Dana. He's entering an era where it's impossible for him to control viewership numbers from being released, and likely impossible to prevent UFC stars from demanding and then bragging about $10-20M+ purses.

What about the last 15 years in this sport makes you think anything you typed is actually gonna happen? Everyone knew Conor was getting paid, who didnt fight? Everyone knows Jones was offered 30 mill, who is refusing to fight now?

UFC has all the leverage. Guys will get more, bigger names or guys who draw but if they dont like what UFC's offering the UFC will move to the next fighter.

 

[shunyata]

UFC fighters want to be paid generously.

But they want Dana to give them their pay-increase out of pure benevolvence. A sign of how beloved and important they are as fighters. They want him to: "Do them a solid" like a good unc.

Collective bargining, players association, unions, (actual) managers who can negotiate, these things are effeminate. Standing up to a billionare means that you're gay.

They maintain these delusions until they're old and no longer valuable.

Collective bargaining is The Way and The Light.

 

[Thepaintbucket]

Eddie Hearn is absolutely right but he knows exactly what he's doing. Dana White is setting up shop in boxing and this is going to hurt Eddie's management cut.

 

[bean88]

Because he is. Dana is just a nepo who got his way too many times.

Hearn stopped studying after his A levels and got into promotion through his fathers connections/family business so saying Dana is a nepo in comparison seems ironic

He does seem like a great guy though and he is well spoken, unlike the pink goof