Paddy took a pay cut to fight in the UFC

[eiyuu]

I guess Paddy made a mistake then. He should have stayed with Cage Warriors . . .

 

[WildShrimper]

Most fighters are taking a paycut lol

Yeah, and there's something wrong with it.

 

[Small Town Andrew]

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

This just doesn't hold up. Yea they offered him more to sign but as you said he was their franchise star. They bet the house on him to try and outpay the UFC. Regardless in the longterm Paddy will make more being a UFC star

 

[omawho402]

He invested in himself and it paid out. Took a few steps back to end up taking many more forward.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

His UFC base contract was like 12k so lol.

If I remember correctly, Dana or Hunter once said their whole goal with new roster signing is to minimize the negotiation process aka take the default contract or go somewhere else

same as in every other company that’s pretending they’re working with a fixed salary structure. It’s fixed for low value workers but if you can make a decent case and prove you’re worth more you’re getting a better deal

In the case of the UFC, you get a better deal if you’re either an obnoxious mongrel with a large fanbase or already a big star in an other organisation or sport

WWE era bush league trash

 

[Young Calf Kick]

This just doesn't hold up. Yea they offered him more to sign but as you said he was their franchise star. They bet the house on him to try and outpay the UFC. Regardless in the longterm Paddy will make more being a UFC star

Unless he gets violently knocked about by Chandler (a real possibility) and everyone gets to see that he’s a can

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

That's almost certainly the logic behind it, that it'll provide you bigger opportunities in the long run if you successfully climb the ladder, which Paddy has done.

But when we complain about the lack of depth at LHW and HW bc the talented guys that size aren't interested in MMA unless they wash out of a real spirt, or the biggest fights not materializing with the biggest names sitting out all year while fight cards are filled with underpaid unknowns in an empty warehouse, we're all criticizing the lack of real investment into a better product.

Not that it's necessarily as simple as "more money = better fight card/better sport " but it's definitely a big part of their product feeling so stagnant

i don't think more money will bring the bigger guys. i think big guys rather work normal ass jobs than get punched in the face by other big motherfuckers. you need big guys who have nothing else going on for them. that's hard to find because just by the nature of them being big they're more than likely being offered more appealing things than "hey get your teeth broken by this other ogre".

i always say to people "you know how you look at somebody like Brock Lesnar and think "fuck fighting that guy" that's what the majority of other big guys are thinking too" lmao

 

[Small Town Andrew]

Unless he gets violently knocked about by Chandler (a real possibility) and everyone gets to see that he’s a can

Even so he's known by millions more people around the world. Hes already a marketble fighter and UFC would probably feed him more cans. It does come with risk however, it didn't work out for his teammate. She should of stayed in the minor leagues.

 

[Titan1980]

Sounds like a case of taking less for a while to potentially make more if he proved himself. Lots of people across many careers will do this. It's a good way to test incomers as well and their desire to perform. It would be good to compare what Paddy would have made in as many fights with CW vs how much he has made with UFC.

 

[Kingz]

 

[RampageFaction]

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.

You say that like independent contractors actually can unionize which we know isn’t true. Independent contractors cannot form unions because they are not employees. By every metric they are NOT employees. They can’t unionize. If you didn’t know this…now you do. So how is this a dead issue? Point 2 is the UFC is actively working to silence them and stack the deck in their favor. They can’t do it alone. They need legislation. They need the Ali act applied to MMA. But guess who has the politicians including the president in their back pocket …the UFC. How the hell is that the fighters’ fault? Enlighten me.

 

[RampageFaction]

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.

Exactly. To many UFC Stans in here regurgitating Dana white rhetoric. Get a clue.

 

[agibmxmma]

It's not that they don't care, it's more they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them when they're still trying to make it, and even established ones don't want to compromise their bag. It's not until after they stop trying to impress machine that they either express or change their views against fighter pay. Everyone knows it's disgusting for most except the top 1%, and the only ones not speaking up are either ignorant, benefitting from it or just don't care as there's bigger stuff to worry about than fighter pay.

+1

 

[nfreeman]

I’m sure he was earning less on paper (i.e. on his UFC contract), but between endorsements/sponsorships and other ventures that he was able to promote using the UFC platform he’s been able to make more money than he was previously.

 

[bjjwar]

Smartest decision of his life, look at him now. Dude became a millionaire thanks to the UFC and all the pr he gets. Pereira struggled his whole life and now just granted his parents a 4mio Villa after being 5 min in the UFC. Ufc changing people’s lives

 

[PattyBates]

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

False. Some are underpaid and some are not. The nots don't want to share with the others. I dont blame them.

 

[skylolow]

You say that like independent contractors actually can unionize which we know isn’t true. Independent contractors cannot form unions because they are not employees. By every metric they are NOT employees. They can’t unionize. If you didn’t know this…now you do. So how is this a dead issue? Point 2 is the UFC is actively working to silence them and stack the deck in their favor. They can’t do it alone. They need legislation. They need the Ali act applied to MMA. But guess who has the politicians including the president in their back pocket …the UFC. How the hell is that the fighters’ fault? Enlighten me.

I do know that and that is why they have to get a judgement on if they are truly independent contractors or employees. That is their first step and so far they can't even get that ball rolling. That is what a few these groups were working towards but the fighters just won't get on boards in big enough numbers.

Ali Act isn't gonna help pay directly as it doesn't force a promoter to pay x amount/percentage of anything. MMA has proven over and over that just names don't sell well. Without the UFC behind it every MMA PPV has falling flat for the most part. Conor is probably the only fighter that has enough pull outside of the sport to sell a PPV event very well without the UFC.

 

[Tweak896]

If you're a decent fighter and you know you're going to pull an audience, it's worth the gamble. Look at all the PFL fighters who get 100k+ a fight, but PFL will just ice you until they need you.

 

[shunyata]

I remember when fighters fought for a potato

Me too bro. But what if they earned enough potato to feed their kids too?

 

[TimeToTrain]

I remember when Pride used to pay their stars billions of dollars

Same with K-1. Look at how rockstar Buakaw is living the life with his flashy cars and mansion. The man doesn’t need to prove anything else but always glad to see him live the life he deserves.