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Small Guide : Following MMA to make a career or as a fan
READ ME : IMPORTANT
This thread is only relevant for 2024.
In 2025 GFL will emerge as a "potential" big league rival, Nashe Delo deserves a mention as a small organization in russia able to pay well at their main event, Eagle FC has no-events set for 2025 and only had one in 2024 that is why it was not mentioned. God bless you all, fighters, managers, coaches, and good luck for your careers.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Complete small guide on mappings MMA organizations over the world for those willing to make a career, or for the hardcore fan simply wanting to follow the game.
The world of MMA is both small and at the same time big, which made it a bit hard and complex to visualize and understand, at least for the casual man.
Many managers, coaches, and fighters, even gamblers are often lost in the ocean, and struggle to plan and follow a path ahead.
An equal world for equal opportunities. It is important to make good moves following a career, similar as a chess player.
Which organization is the most competitive ? Which pay handsomely the most ? Which organization should I join to make it to the big league ?
It is impossible to maps all MMA organizations over the world, they are too many and their growth is exponential. We shall only focus on the most important, relevant ones.
We will divide organizations into three categories : Big-Medium-Small. % given are not 100% accurate, but rounded to give a clear idea.
Big league :
#1 UFC
#2 PFL/Bellator
#3 ACA
#4 One FC
Medium league :
#1 KSW
#2 BraveFC
#3 UAE Warriors
#4 Cage Warrior
#5 Rizin
#6 Oktagon
#7 Road FC
Small league :
#1 Ares FC
#2 LFA
#3 Alash Pride
#4 Shooto Brazil
#5 EFC Global
#6 100% Fight
#7 Deep
#8 Cage Titans Fighting Championship
#9 King Of The Cage
Note :
[Medium and small organizations can often be bridge to the big ones]
ACA and KSW, do not lead to the UFC anymore, as they pay too handsomely at the top of their mountains, and that it is wiser to choose money over glory, especially when a figher have a family to feed.
Soft Power : VISA Issues and citizenship
Glory or Money if not both are often the current aim of any fighter, but they cannot be obtained without Opportunity. It is therefore important to know, where to fight first.
The main obstacles for fighters and managers around the world in the fight game are VISA issues, especially when a bout demands to travel abroad.
I won't explain what softpower is, but living in a country where MMA is well developed not only give a competitive advantage due to better coaching and sparring partners but also to an easier ability to find fights. Not everyone is born in a country where MMA promotions and the MMA pro scene is active, also holder of a strong passport and dual citizenship can enable more opportunities, and as the art of war said, opportunities multiply when seized.
According to some, the first thing a fighter should take into consideration when fighting, especially abroad, should not be the salary or how competitive the organization he is fighting in is, but mainly the location of which events the promotion attends bouts.
Some MMA fighters trying to make a career out of it could be more isolated especially if not in the west, due to their geography and citizenship mainly, not even counting those in which country MMA is banned. It is frequent for a fighter to be inactive for six months to a whole year to get a VISA.
Getting familiar with the paperwork about how to obtain VISA should be the trademark of any manager.
Where to fight is also something important to consider for financial advantage, as many fighters tend to prefer fighting in middle east countries, since due to zero taxes law and regulation, which is a cool thing.
#1 UFC
There is no need for introduction when talking about the UFC.
Roster :
Obviously the largest and biggest MMA organization with the most competitive rosters worldwide.
A top 15 for every weight class.
Location :
90 % of events are in US and in United Arab Emirates, Canada, UK as well and Brazil.
10 % of events are in some european countries like France, Irland, Australia and some asian countries like China and South-Korea, even Japan. But that is very rare.
Salary :
[No-bonus including]
At the bottom very low (undercard)
12K $/24K $ is the average salary
12K for showing up, +12K if win
Above the under card salary are higher going to 30K $, 50K $ to 80K $, 100K $
Main card salary are generally higher, depending on the PPV, 250K $ to 500K$, if not more.
Stars and Super Stars can cash out a few millions per fights, that is not uncommon.
Controversies :
1-Fair shares, Fair world
Unlike some others MMA promotions and sports leagues, that pay their fighters or athletes at least 50 percent of their revenue, the UFC pays it's fighters between 10 percent to 20 percent of what it's making, a shame for many indeed.
2-Sponsorship :
Sponsorships can be a great source of income for any fighter, however, the UFC bans all brands being either unable or unwilling to pay a « tax » for sponshorship. The notorious Reebook deal, and Venom are examples.
As a result, fighters are forbidden to use their own sponsors, and have limited options to get interesting sponsorships. Some describe this as an unfair policy and a high level of greed, as the UFC monetize the outfits of fighters to get the money for themselves instead.
Control of money is power after all.
3-Lack of an Union for defending and representing fighters right, and not increasing salaries
Negotiating higher salaries, and health insurance was always a wish of many fighters.
To this days, many fighters believed and claimed to being treated terribly and not having health insurance, being underpaid, etc.
Of course, the people running the game, behind close doors having a vested interest in preventing the birth of a potential union, it is not likely to happen.
The controversy was that the UFC net income was increasing with a margin of more than 30% in the last few years, but the salaries given to the fighters didn’t follow.
4- Slavery contract
Not all fighers have access to good lawyers, but in both cases contracts are not « favorable »
A saying in any shady bussiness, never sign a contract if you have zero leverage
Tons of restrictions are found, including a waiver to prevent an action lawsuits in case one is willing to fight back
Adding to that, the UFC can release any figher whenever they want, plus a three, four, or six fights contract length is not often favorable, because a figher value can increase based on his recents performances, there are no room for negotiation before the end of the contract, until being re-signed if being re-signed.
The only way out to escape and leave the UFC, at the end of a contract, regardless of it’s length, would be to fake retirement or being inactive for at least a whole year, wasting precious time for your career.
Minor League : Dana White's Contender Series
DWCS is a minor league apart and independant to the UFC, being a bridge to the UFC, vowing to attract talents across the world, the door footstep to the big league, only those who show greater skills and talents are taken, while the rest is discarded. DWCS events are all in the US.
#2 PFL/Bellator
The main rival of the UFC. PFL bought Bellator, and the two promotions merged into one. By combining their rosters, PFL/Bellator became the second largest MMA organization in the world.
Roster :
PFL/Bellator roster has depth, and is very competitive, especially with their recent signing
It is unsure how the rankings will be made with the fusion of Bellator and PFL, since both organization cross promotion and continue at the same time to operate on their own
Location :
80 % of events take place in the US, and Saudi Arabia
20 % of events take place in some european countries like France or Irland, and even Japan.
Salary :
PFL/Bellator is known before to had make better offers than the UFC, for both fighters at the bottom and at the top.
Many open sources had shown that PFL pays handsomely it's fighters, often higher than the UFC.
There is no fix salaries, every events, every fighters, are paid differently.
Main card fighters are being paid 75K $ to 200K $, sometimes depending on the fighter the pay is above 500K $.
Controversies :
1-) Bellators fighters some champion forced to be inactive
According to some of it's fighters, Patricio Pitbull, Patchy Mix, Corey Anderson, have claimed that they are frustrated and being forced to inactivity wasting precious time in their prime. PFL seems to be unstable to give them fights, as they are not scheduled for bouts, and if they are, their bouts gets cancelled and are not re-scheduled. Patrictio Pitbull asked to be released if no fight is given to him, but PFL didn't comply to make him a free agent. This according to expert is going to be temporay, as PFL has raised millions of dollars from investors in 2024.
#3 ACA
Russian based organization where only the mighest fighters of the motherland compete
[Note : Many russian promotions went bankrupt or neglected by it's CEO/Investors, ACA proved to all multiple time that the organization is not a castle of sands. We can describe ACA as the future, the very least would be the future of russian MMA.
Roster :
The third most competitive roster in the world. Most of their roster is russian, though they have brazilans and others nationalities competing.
Fierce organization, very competitive, which is not a surprise since Russia is the number one country that produce high level MMA fighters in term of both quality and quantity.
ACA has a solid top 10 rankings.
Location :
90 % of events take place in Russia
10 % of events take place in Belarus, and rarely in others neighborhood countries like Poland, or Kazaksthan
Salary :
ACA has the ambition to be a world class MMA organization, which ACA is already.
Fighters are paid in main card between 50K $ to 100K $, and it is not uncommon to see famous fighters making above 200K-300K $. For some cases, the salary is above 400K $ but this is rare.
[This is bonus excluded of course]
ACA clearly intent to keep the best of it's figher in it's roster, and by paying them handsomely, they indeed are not likely to leave
Controversies :
[Still to come]
Minor League : ACA Young Eagles
A minor league, for young fighters, in the early of their careers with often less than ten fights and few experience.
#4 One Championship
Clearly, the number one organization in Asia, especially in the south east.
Roster :
The fourth most competitive roster in the world.
The organization is not 100 % focused on MMA, but in kickboxing, muay-thai and BJJ as well.
Their MMA roster however contains many good fighters and they have recently signed many prospects which we hope would lead to a brighter future.
Strong top 5 rankings, though this is not the case for weightclass above welterweight to heavyweight, who do not have any rankings.
Very competitive, especially at the lower weightclass.
Location :
Most of events take place a bit everywhere in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and rarely in the US.
Salary :
With taking out of the the 50K $ bonuses left and right off the equation, One salary is known to be decent.
At the very bottom, fighters are often paid around 1/2K $ to show, and +1/2K $ if win.
Title fights and main card purse are higher, going to 100K $ to 250K $, sometimes more with PPV.
ONE Championship clause guarantee at least 250K $ for title defense.
Controversies :
1-Slavery contracts
Since fighters are not allowed to talk about their contracts, --------
2-Forced Inactivity
Even if One promise to offer at least two fights per year, that is often not the case, and many of their fighters were forced to be inactive, wasting both their careers and their potentials.
#1 KSW
Number one promotion in eastern europe. Made in Poland.
Roster :
KSW has a top ten, good fighters overall.
Location :
90 % of events take place in Poland.
Most of others events take place a bit everywhere in Europe, mostly France and some neighborhood countries.
Salary :
Main event fighters reported to get above 100K 200K $ purse, sometimes around 500K $.
For main event fighters, the money is very good
Controversies :
1-Steroid :
Some people believe that due to KSW not being a major league, adopting an anti-doping policy would only reduce the fighers they possess and would be counter productive
READ ME : IMPORTANT
This thread is only relevant for 2024.
In 2025 GFL will emerge as a "potential" big league rival, Nashe Delo deserves a mention as a small organization in russia able to pay well at their main event, Eagle FC has no-events set for 2025 and only had one in 2024 that is why it was not mentioned. God bless you all, fighters, managers, coaches, and good luck for your careers.
..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Complete small guide on mappings MMA organizations over the world for those willing to make a career, or for the hardcore fan simply wanting to follow the game.
The world of MMA is both small and at the same time big, which made it a bit hard and complex to visualize and understand, at least for the casual man.
Many managers, coaches, and fighters, even gamblers are often lost in the ocean, and struggle to plan and follow a path ahead.
An equal world for equal opportunities. It is important to make good moves following a career, similar as a chess player.
Which organization is the most competitive ? Which pay handsomely the most ? Which organization should I join to make it to the big league ?
It is impossible to maps all MMA organizations over the world, they are too many and their growth is exponential. We shall only focus on the most important, relevant ones.
We will divide organizations into three categories : Big-Medium-Small. % given are not 100% accurate, but rounded to give a clear idea.
Big league :
#1 UFC
#2 PFL/Bellator
#3 ACA
#4 One FC
Medium league :
#1 KSW
#2 BraveFC
#3 UAE Warriors
#4 Cage Warrior
#5 Rizin
#6 Oktagon
#7 Road FC
Small league :
#1 Ares FC
#2 LFA
#3 Alash Pride
#4 Shooto Brazil
#5 EFC Global
#6 100% Fight
#7 Deep
#8 Cage Titans Fighting Championship
#9 King Of The Cage
Note :
[Medium and small organizations can often be bridge to the big ones]
ACA and KSW, do not lead to the UFC anymore, as they pay too handsomely at the top of their mountains, and that it is wiser to choose money over glory, especially when a figher have a family to feed.
Soft Power : VISA Issues and citizenship
Glory or Money if not both are often the current aim of any fighter, but they cannot be obtained without Opportunity. It is therefore important to know, where to fight first.
The main obstacles for fighters and managers around the world in the fight game are VISA issues, especially when a bout demands to travel abroad.
I won't explain what softpower is, but living in a country where MMA is well developed not only give a competitive advantage due to better coaching and sparring partners but also to an easier ability to find fights. Not everyone is born in a country where MMA promotions and the MMA pro scene is active, also holder of a strong passport and dual citizenship can enable more opportunities, and as the art of war said, opportunities multiply when seized.
According to some, the first thing a fighter should take into consideration when fighting, especially abroad, should not be the salary or how competitive the organization he is fighting in is, but mainly the location of which events the promotion attends bouts.
Some MMA fighters trying to make a career out of it could be more isolated especially if not in the west, due to their geography and citizenship mainly, not even counting those in which country MMA is banned. It is frequent for a fighter to be inactive for six months to a whole year to get a VISA.
Getting familiar with the paperwork about how to obtain VISA should be the trademark of any manager.
Where to fight is also something important to consider for financial advantage, as many fighters tend to prefer fighting in middle east countries, since due to zero taxes law and regulation, which is a cool thing.
#1 UFC
There is no need for introduction when talking about the UFC.
Roster :
Obviously the largest and biggest MMA organization with the most competitive rosters worldwide.
A top 15 for every weight class.
Location :
90 % of events are in US and in United Arab Emirates, Canada, UK as well and Brazil.
10 % of events are in some european countries like France, Irland, Australia and some asian countries like China and South-Korea, even Japan. But that is very rare.
Salary :
[No-bonus including]
At the bottom very low (undercard)
12K $/24K $ is the average salary
12K for showing up, +12K if win
Above the under card salary are higher going to 30K $, 50K $ to 80K $, 100K $
Main card salary are generally higher, depending on the PPV, 250K $ to 500K$, if not more.
Stars and Super Stars can cash out a few millions per fights, that is not uncommon.
Controversies :
1-Fair shares, Fair world
Unlike some others MMA promotions and sports leagues, that pay their fighters or athletes at least 50 percent of their revenue, the UFC pays it's fighters between 10 percent to 20 percent of what it's making, a shame for many indeed.
2-Sponsorship :
Sponsorships can be a great source of income for any fighter, however, the UFC bans all brands being either unable or unwilling to pay a « tax » for sponshorship. The notorious Reebook deal, and Venom are examples.
As a result, fighters are forbidden to use their own sponsors, and have limited options to get interesting sponsorships. Some describe this as an unfair policy and a high level of greed, as the UFC monetize the outfits of fighters to get the money for themselves instead.
Control of money is power after all.
3-Lack of an Union for defending and representing fighters right, and not increasing salaries
Negotiating higher salaries, and health insurance was always a wish of many fighters.
To this days, many fighters believed and claimed to being treated terribly and not having health insurance, being underpaid, etc.
Of course, the people running the game, behind close doors having a vested interest in preventing the birth of a potential union, it is not likely to happen.
The controversy was that the UFC net income was increasing with a margin of more than 30% in the last few years, but the salaries given to the fighters didn’t follow.
4- Slavery contract
Not all fighers have access to good lawyers, but in both cases contracts are not « favorable »
A saying in any shady bussiness, never sign a contract if you have zero leverage
Tons of restrictions are found, including a waiver to prevent an action lawsuits in case one is willing to fight back
Adding to that, the UFC can release any figher whenever they want, plus a three, four, or six fights contract length is not often favorable, because a figher value can increase based on his recents performances, there are no room for negotiation before the end of the contract, until being re-signed if being re-signed.
The only way out to escape and leave the UFC, at the end of a contract, regardless of it’s length, would be to fake retirement or being inactive for at least a whole year, wasting precious time for your career.
Minor League : Dana White's Contender Series
DWCS is a minor league apart and independant to the UFC, being a bridge to the UFC, vowing to attract talents across the world, the door footstep to the big league, only those who show greater skills and talents are taken, while the rest is discarded. DWCS events are all in the US.
#2 PFL/Bellator
The main rival of the UFC. PFL bought Bellator, and the two promotions merged into one. By combining their rosters, PFL/Bellator became the second largest MMA organization in the world.
Roster :
PFL/Bellator roster has depth, and is very competitive, especially with their recent signing
It is unsure how the rankings will be made with the fusion of Bellator and PFL, since both organization cross promotion and continue at the same time to operate on their own
Location :
80 % of events take place in the US, and Saudi Arabia
20 % of events take place in some european countries like France or Irland, and even Japan.
Salary :
PFL/Bellator is known before to had make better offers than the UFC, for both fighters at the bottom and at the top.
Many open sources had shown that PFL pays handsomely it's fighters, often higher than the UFC.
There is no fix salaries, every events, every fighters, are paid differently.
Main card fighters are being paid 75K $ to 200K $, sometimes depending on the fighter the pay is above 500K $.
Controversies :
1-) Bellators fighters some champion forced to be inactive
According to some of it's fighters, Patricio Pitbull, Patchy Mix, Corey Anderson, have claimed that they are frustrated and being forced to inactivity wasting precious time in their prime. PFL seems to be unstable to give them fights, as they are not scheduled for bouts, and if they are, their bouts gets cancelled and are not re-scheduled. Patrictio Pitbull asked to be released if no fight is given to him, but PFL didn't comply to make him a free agent. This according to expert is going to be temporay, as PFL has raised millions of dollars from investors in 2024.
#3 ACA
Russian based organization where only the mighest fighters of the motherland compete
[Note : Many russian promotions went bankrupt or neglected by it's CEO/Investors, ACA proved to all multiple time that the organization is not a castle of sands. We can describe ACA as the future, the very least would be the future of russian MMA.
Roster :
The third most competitive roster in the world. Most of their roster is russian, though they have brazilans and others nationalities competing.
Fierce organization, very competitive, which is not a surprise since Russia is the number one country that produce high level MMA fighters in term of both quality and quantity.
ACA has a solid top 10 rankings.
Location :
90 % of events take place in Russia
10 % of events take place in Belarus, and rarely in others neighborhood countries like Poland, or Kazaksthan
Salary :
ACA has the ambition to be a world class MMA organization, which ACA is already.
Fighters are paid in main card between 50K $ to 100K $, and it is not uncommon to see famous fighters making above 200K-300K $. For some cases, the salary is above 400K $ but this is rare.
[This is bonus excluded of course]
ACA clearly intent to keep the best of it's figher in it's roster, and by paying them handsomely, they indeed are not likely to leave
Controversies :
[Still to come]
Minor League : ACA Young Eagles
A minor league, for young fighters, in the early of their careers with often less than ten fights and few experience.
#4 One Championship
Clearly, the number one organization in Asia, especially in the south east.
Roster :
The fourth most competitive roster in the world.
The organization is not 100 % focused on MMA, but in kickboxing, muay-thai and BJJ as well.
Their MMA roster however contains many good fighters and they have recently signed many prospects which we hope would lead to a brighter future.
Strong top 5 rankings, though this is not the case for weightclass above welterweight to heavyweight, who do not have any rankings.
Very competitive, especially at the lower weightclass.
Location :
Most of events take place a bit everywhere in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, and rarely in the US.
Salary :
With taking out of the the 50K $ bonuses left and right off the equation, One salary is known to be decent.
At the very bottom, fighters are often paid around 1/2K $ to show, and +1/2K $ if win.
Title fights and main card purse are higher, going to 100K $ to 250K $, sometimes more with PPV.
ONE Championship clause guarantee at least 250K $ for title defense.
Controversies :
1-Slavery contracts
Since fighters are not allowed to talk about their contracts, --------
2-Forced Inactivity
Even if One promise to offer at least two fights per year, that is often not the case, and many of their fighters were forced to be inactive, wasting both their careers and their potentials.
#1 KSW
Number one promotion in eastern europe. Made in Poland.
Roster :
KSW has a top ten, good fighters overall.
Location :
90 % of events take place in Poland.
Most of others events take place a bit everywhere in Europe, mostly France and some neighborhood countries.
Salary :
Main event fighters reported to get above 100K 200K $ purse, sometimes around 500K $.
For main event fighters, the money is very good
Controversies :
1-Steroid :
Some people believe that due to KSW not being a major league, adopting an anti-doping policy would only reduce the fighers they possess and would be counter productive
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