Paddy took a pay cut to fight in the UFC

[Dr Fong]

Fighter pay is a dead issue for 2 reasons:

1. There's no longer a need to speculate, and all the rumors of "backroom bonuses" are moot. After court filings in the antitrust suit, we know exactly how much the UFC has paid fighters, and what their revenue sharing is (i.e., they don't want fighters getting more than 20%.
2. The fighters don't seem to care. The vast majority refuse to unite on the issue, and they shoot down media/fans who bring it up.

Point being, they're clearly underpaid but don't care enough to change it. And if they don't care, we shouldn't either.

Fighters do care. They just face retaliation if they try to do anything about it. This isn't hard to understand.

The real world isn't Shitdog. There are multiple reasons preventing fighters from effectively organizing, which includes the UFC using its power to successfully divide them. There are indeed shills and scabs that want to climb up the ladder and pull it up behind them, but those shills and scabs are a result of the environment the UFC has created.

A guy on 12/12 trying to feed his family can't just snap his fingers and create a union out of thin air just because some neckbeard on the internet blames him for something completely beyond his control.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

Didn’t a bunch of pro golfers abandon the PGA to go play in Saudi funded league because they paid more?

Yes and then the PGA pressured key players to stay on tour or they wouldn't be allowed to compete, if they played on the Saudi league (LIV).
Then after they got several top golfers to lobby on behalf of staying loyal to PGA, the association went behind their backs and made a deal with the Saudis anyway (players lost hundreds of millions)!! To boot, they required anyone participating with LIV to compete in additional rounds in order to win PGA tournaments
Big BizNass as usual

***Someone correct me if I don't understand the situation***

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Um, yes, and I speak from experience. Not top 50, but Paddy wasn't top 50 when he signed either. You make more money winning lower events than you do being the new guy losing early in bigger events. You move up to the bigger events and risk making less money because you potentially make a lot more doing better in the bigger events, the same way Paddy took a short term cut in base pay and has now ended up with way more money because he won in the bigger org.

Hell, tennis players and golfers who don't come from money have to go find personal sponsors, and when I say sponsor, I don't mean a company pays you to wear or endorse their product, I mean a regular person or family who will pay for you to enter and travel to tournaments, because you can end up in the negative going pro in both sports where going to a tournament costs more than your prize money.

Fair points, and I understand the risk/reward trade off that every athlete has to make peace with while sacrificing things today that will potentially come back 10 fold if they can commit to the process.

But through refusal to be leveraged for bigger payouts they have a HW division with 2 belts that they can't get a signed unification bout for. They can't get DDP Khamzat made. They have a talent like Topuria that they have trouble marketing despite his already amazing performances to the extent that 2 other guys are fighting for a belt he gave back to them while he waits for a no. 1 contender fight due to wanting new scalps vs just granting unwarranted rematches to guys he stopped convincingly already.

Is there any criticism of the ufc model you yourself feel is fair/warranted?

Genuinely curious btw, not trying to getting too far in the weeds with it. I feel like there are things that could and should be improved but it's not stopping me from watching most cards and enjoying them, but I feel like they whiff on what should be easy lay ups is all

 

[ejazahmednit]

He chose long term gains over short term ones
If he has made more in his tenure in the UFC than what he would have made at Cage Warriors, then it was the right choice

 

[WillyWarminski]

Back when the £ was worth AT least $1.08















In Liverpool, you can buy 2 semi detached houses with that kinda cash.

 

[Joshua8531]

Hear ya bro. I miss Affliction.. never seen a Megadeath concert I didn’t have to pay for in my life

Sheeeeeeeeit, Iconic jif

 

[Joshua8531]

Um, yes, and I speak from experience. Not top 50, but Paddy wasn't top 50 when he signed either. You make more money winning lower events than you do being the new guy losing early in bigger events. You move up to the bigger events and risk making less money because you potentially make a lot more doing better in the bigger events, the same way Paddy took a short term cut in base pay and has now ended up with way more money because he won in the bigger org.

Hell, tennis players and golfers who don't come from money have to go find personal sponsors, and when I say sponsor, I don't mean a company pays you to wear or endorse their product, I mean a regular person or family who will pay for you to enter and travel to tournaments, because you can end up in the negative going pro in both sports where going to a tournament costs more than your prize money.

How drunk were you?

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Imagine literally any other major sports' pinnacle organization requiring athletes to take a pay cut to move up from the regional circuit to the big show.

You think F1 drivers or top 50 in the world tennis players/golfers have to give up base pay or sponsorship contracts just to perform on the world stage?
Make it make sense lol, I know paddy was a franchise star for CW and they were probably willing to pay to keep him there, but it's still retarded

Players in top soccer leagues could pretty much all get a pay raise to go to Saudi but they mostly don't.

Although it's a little different as they're rich anyway.

 

[Harlekin]

UFC knows their brand is worth a lot. They make fighters famous. Cage warriors doesn't. The fighters profit in the long run.
The smart fighters know this, that's why they take a pay cut.
Which is "good" for the company.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Players in top soccer leagues could pretty much all get a pay raise to go to Saudi but they mostly don't.

Although it's a little different as they're rich anyway.

Correct, they're the kinda rich that allows you to pursue what you're really after without the constant fear of financial collapse muddying the picture.

Pro mma fighters are basically putting all their chips in on one immensely difficult endeavor that most likely won't leave them set financially even til age 40, let alone 55 plus once their bodies are broken down and they have no back up skills to depend on.

I'm not saying that fighting in the ufc should = set for life money, I'm not even saying they owe them any kind of post career safety net.
But they break their own records for profit every year, they charge fans 100 per month to watch their product.
And all the while they blatantly underpay the fighters, from the contender series donks all the way up to the Conors and Jons. Literally no one has said they're adequately compensated

And if you dare to call it out or criticize it, tough shit you pussy they're the biggest org in the sport and the show will go on with or without you.

Good luck in the BKFC or the Jake Paul sweepstakes, hope you've invested your winnings exceptionally well but if you didn't that's too bad.
As a fan, it's hard to ignore some of these discrepancies

 

[blunttruth]

All UFC fighters are way overpaid. Minimum of $50,000.00 per hour for regional bums who would fight each other for free at the local pub, school yard, or park if someone flipped them the bird.

 

[RampageFaction]

Fighter pay is a dead issue for 2 reasons:

1. There's no longer a need to speculate, and all the rumors of "backroom bonuses" are moot. After court filings in the antitrust suit, we know exactly how much the UFC has paid fighters, and what their revenue sharing is (i.e., they don't want fighters getting more than 20%.
2. The fighters don't seem to care. The vast majority refuse to unite on the issue, and they shoot down media/fans who bring it up.

Point being, they're clearly underpaid but don't care enough to change it. And if they don't care, we shouldn't either.

Bad take. I’m not sure why you feel like point number 1 means it’s a dead issue. Point number 2…They don’t talk about it because they’d suffer consequences if they did. The DO care.

 

[cmw43]

You sort of replied yourself, but thats also probably half truth from Pimblett, if he made more over there thats already their top pay, he joined the UFC as a regional star for UK shows, probably didnt took much until he ended up making more, specially with 4 POTN bonus so far, the potential to make money is in the UFC, even if they underpay a lot according to their revenue.

He also signed some massive sponsorship deals after signing with UFC like with Barstool.

 

[skylolow]

Fighter pay is a dead issue for 2 reasons:

1. There's no longer a need to speculate, and all the rumors of "backroom bonuses" are moot. After court filings in the antitrust suit, we know exactly how much the UFC has paid fighters, and what their revenue sharing is (i.e., they don't want fighters getting more than 20%.
2. The fighters don't seem to care. The vast majority refuse to unite on the issue, and they shoot down media/fans who bring it up.

Point being, they're clearly underpaid but don't care enough to change it. And if they don't care, we shouldn't either.

This the TRUTH!!!!!!

There is no reason for any fighter to think otherwise that they aren't getting what they should and they refuse to unite.

Just wait until this new US media deal is announces and the terms. The fighters will sit on their hands as the UFC will increase their revenue by 100's of millions a year. It is shocking the management teams involved in this sport can't get their clients to wake up either. But then again your dealing with people who get locked in a cage to fight another human for a living, most people would say there might be something wrong with those individuals.

 

[flektarn]

Kind of crazy cause paddy really brought in a lot of his own hype and promotion.

 

[IDGETKTFO]

In suitcases of unmarked pills

Fixed your typo, you're welcome.

 

[skylolow]

Bad take. I’m not sure why you feel like point number 1 means it’s a dead issue. Point number 2…They don’t talk about it because they’d suffer consequences if they did. The DO care.

That take is 100% accurate.

Point one is only a dead issue because the fighters refuse to unite. Point 2 there has been a breaking point in every major sport that the athlete had enough and took a stance regardless of consequences. In the end the partners of the UFC would push for the UFC to make a deal to keep the best fighters. They aren't going to pay the UFC's crazy media deal prices for scabs. There would be a lot of pressure put on the UFC brass. In fact, I won't be surprised if behind close doors they already have a plan in place to either hold off a united front from fighters(increase revenue sharing/increase pay overall) and if that fails they have a plan on what they'd be willing to give up to a fighters association/union.

 

[Söze Aldo]

He chose long term gains over short term ones
If he has made more in his tenure in the UFC than what he would have made at Cage Warriors, then it was the right choice

That's pretty much Dana's "it's not a career, it's an opportunity" philosophy. Dana likes the idea of the stars making most of their pay not from the UFC but other sources. As someone mentioned, the UFC leverages their low expenses in paying fighters as part of their profitability to investors.

It worked out for Paddy when still on that 12k deal he sighed a million dollar promotion agreement with Barstool.

 

[burningspear]

We're fans of a two bit sport, sigh!

 

[Daniel Henry]

He took a pay cut on his base pay. I bet his sponsorship money doubled