Paige VanZant: Why Is a "UFC Star" Only Paid $46,000?

[NILLI]

She’s a cute young girl, she needs to use her ufc exposure to get acting gigs and appearances. Gina carano parlayed her Mma career into an acting career and was in one of the biggest movies, (Deadpool) and now one of the biggest tv shows. Mandolarian. Let’s be honest, Amanda Nunes and Cyborg can only do fighting. Same with many other female fighters. Why get punched in your face when your pretty? PVZ should retire from mma, do acting. Right now hollywood has a hard on for strong female roles, and PVZ is attractive and decently legit when it comes to actual fighting. It’s no brainer

Carano was a goddess when she kick started her movie career. She was better looking than any other female fighter at that time and was way better looking than PVZ ever has been. She was also probably considered as nro 2 in the world. Something Paige will never be. PVZ might still get some side roles in some shitty movies but she would never generate as much money as she does doing cleavage and ass shots on Instagram.

About those strong female roles go and check how happy hollywood is putting those out there. Check movies like Charlies angels or Terminator dark fate. Im sure the movie people are real happy how those performed You do not need a pretty MMA fighter playing a tough girl. You just need a good actress and a movie. You think a movie like Aliens would have been better if Sigourney gor replaced by Paige?

 

[Morning Star]

She could probably make that in a month on Onlyfans.

 

[mmafan559]

NINE FIGHTS IN SEVEN YEARS LOOL WTF WORK MORE

5-4 IN THOSE FIGHTS LEWLZORZ WIN MORE

wtf does this bitch want go do some HARDCORE VR PORN and give us what we want

 

[Gambit MMA]

It would be nice if that were true, but it simply isn't. UFC has not hidden the fact they will pay a "star" over a person that is simply ranked.

True in a way, but the "stars" get exposed and arent gonna have nearly as long a career. They might cash in and get 100k to show for a year or two and make more money than fighters that are actually grinding and living and breathing the sport. But it doesn't last long.

Look at Sage, now PVZ. there have been others too.

 

[Roljo]

Perhaps the problem is that she's so focused on social media and earnings.

If you focus on fighting you might win. Fighters who win get paid more.

Not really, winning doesn't matter, it's about selling

 

[ejazahmednit]

I agree with what you said about the players before paving the way. Same as the fighters before have paved the way. Nunes title fight isn't 30 minutes of work. Same as one NBA game isn't 48 minutes of work. Lebron and the like have been working on their craft for years same as Nunes. $325k is shit compared to Lebron making $37.44 M. That equates to $456,585 per game. They also have full medical, pension, expenses paid for their travel, hotels, training facilities, medical staff, massage therapists, chiropractors and much much more.

The NBA generated 8.76 Billion in revenue in 2018/19 season. With 30 teams that averages $292,000,000 per team. UFC generated an estimated $800-1.1 Billion. The idea that the UFC isn't established enough to pay its fighters better is off base. Every time the fighters try to organize the UFC uses its leverage over them to keep them down and divided. Some day it will change but it will be a long haul.

Based on the fact that in revenue generated the UFC is the size of several pro teams from any of the major leagues and those teams pay 50% of revenue to labour. UFC is at 15%. Wonder how DW made his $350-$400 Million?

I don't pay much attention to fighter pay and stuff
What I do know is maths
So, Lebron was making 450K per game and Nunes is making 325K per game, difference is the number of appearances they make in a year
Also, each team gets around 300 Mill right, but how many people are they paying out of that, less people more payment
UFC is paying around 400-500 fighters
Also I don't know anything about the stadium revenue and the sponsorships that the teams generate for themselves
That said, UFC does lowball its atheletes, but all combat sports do, except for a chosen few in boxing
Look at how much a similarly placed boxer makes and you ll have your answer
Also, if paige was winning more, she would have been a much bigger brand
The UFC even tried to promote her (something they are reluctant to do for most fighters)

 

[MillingMeSoftly]

"How does a 'porn star' only get paid 5k?"

 

[dipstickjimmy]

I don't pay much attention to fighter pay and stuff
What I do know is maths
So, Lebron was making 450K per game and Nunes is making 325K per game, difference is the number of appearances they make in a year
Also, each team gets around 300 Mill right, but how many people are they paying out of that, less people more payment
UFC is paying around 400-500 fighters
Also I don't know anything about the stadium revenue and the sponsorships that the teams generate for themselves
That said, UFC does lowball its atheletes, but all combat sports do, except for a chosen few in boxing
Look at how much a similarly placed boxer makes and you ll have your answer
Also, if paige was winning more, she would have been a much bigger brand
The UFC even tried to promote her (something they are reluctant to do for most fighters)

The boxing comment is where it is interesting. The thing the UFC does that doesn't exist in Boxing is UFC being a "League". There is no equivalent in Boxing. The UFC walks the line and fighters are "Independent Contractors" in all the ways that favour the UFC but they are "Employees" in all the ways that favour the UFC.

I appreciate the fact that the UFC is a strong promotion and isn't going under like Affliction, Pride, Strikeforce, WEC and so on. Fedor for example was always "Extracting" the maximum from a promotion with no regard to whether that promotion survives. Fighters think short term as their careers are relatively short. UFC works long term, they are however sufficiently large and well established to the point that if/when fighters organize they will earn themselves more rights and minimum standards.

The UFC locks up fighters yet they have the ability to cut them at any time without any severance. Look at the case of Tom Lawlor. He had a 2 year USADA suspension for Ostarine, he asked for his release several times during the suspension but they wouldn't. They waited until it was almost over and let him go. It was contractually their right but douchey IMO.

Fighters can be booked to get their Show Money and if their opponent falls out last minute they don't get paid? Even if they show up, make weight etc. That is an imbalance in the contract IMO. Lots of basic stuff.

 

[kflo]

Yeah that logic only applies when there is a real free market system in place.

The ufc is a monopoly and youre a complete fool if you think the other orgs arent in league with the ufc as far as paying fighters.

You do realize that once one of the bigger orgs start paying more then they all have to pay more for their fighters right??

They all know this and are not stupid. They will make big deals here and their for certain fighters but they arent stupid enough to actually start paying fighters what theyre actually worth.

Once that genie is out of the bottle it doesnt get put back in. All these corporate slimeballs coexist and work together to some degree

They will continue to fuck the fighters over because mma is a niche sport and the fans are bunch of mouth breathing idiots that dont know any better

here's the genius who knows what they are "worth".......

 

[kflo]

I wasn't comparing Paige to Lebron as far as talent goes. If I used Quinn Cook as the example everyone would post endless gifs of

Quinn Cook is some guy on the Lakers nobody knows and he makes $3M to be on TV and perform in front of thousands of paying fans. NBA generates revenue and Quinn Cook gets his share. UFC generates revenue and Paige gets a much much much lower share, same as almost all the fighters on the roster.

Side note Amanda Nunes doesn't get paid shit either. She is the WMMA GOAT and her salary was $325k

cook gets $3m because there are 30 teams plus other international leagues bidding for his services.

 

[seanb1979]

I have a feeling she will fall into obscurity once she stops fighting. Someone will find her on an escort site by the time she's 35.

 

[GordonMMARamsey]

It's funny people say she wasn't a "UFC Star" but every single girl in the division wanted to fight her in hopes of making a name for themselves by beating her.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

cook gets $3m because there are 30 teams plus other international leagues bidding for his services.

Yes and the UFC is the NBA of MMA. They also bought up most of their competition giving them Monopolistic position.

 

[PeacePipe]

And that bothers you for what reason.

As she is complaining the UFC doesn't pay her enough. Not that Instagram doesn't

 

[kflo]

Yes and the UFC is the NBA of MMA. They also bought up most of their competition giving them Monopolistic position.

they do not have a monopolistic position.

you can't compare an individual company to a league with 30 franchise owners.

 

[suffersystem]

no they're not. without the burger flipper who's going to flip the burgers? the executive? they are essential to society, more essential than some fucking guy who beats people up in a cage or somebody who pretends they're somebody else on screen.

while the job itself is mundane, that doesn't mean they aren't important. the same as the people who clean toilets and the thousands of other jobs that are essential for the well being of society and help keep this whole thing going. entertainers are no where near the top of the list and yet they get paid a ridiculous amount of money.

They are paid what they are worth because ther are litterally thousands upon thousands who could do that job. I imagine it is just simple supply and demand, when there are really un uneneding amount of people willing to do the job, you will get paid bare minimum. Don't like it? There are likely a thousand people besides you that will take it.

 

[Humongo]

Goddamn, what the fuck happened to this forum?

She can't fight to save her life, so she doesn't get paid. Period.

 

[dc007]

I voted no just because they all should be paid more.

 

[NDiaz209]

Are people buying ppvs to see Paige? I doubt it.

 

[Better Every Day]

Paige is not a top tier fighter in either of the divisions that she fights in, that's true.

But she has headlined two UFC cards:
UFC Fight Night 80, Namajunas vs VanZant
UFC on Fox 22, VanZant vs Waterson

And she has earned herself a UFC Performance Of The Night bonus and a UFC Fight Of The Night bonus.

Plus she is enough of a celebrity that she has been on TV shows like...
Dancing With The Stars
Ridiculousness
Chopped

And she made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2019.

I think she has a claim to be a valuable draw for the UFC, worth getting good pay.