So… Are Fighter Pay Discussions Dead Now?

[Blastbeat]

Remember when we used to hear about fighter pay issues all the time? It felt like every other week someone was calling out Dana and the UFC over low pay. But lately… nothing but crickets. Is this because the lawsuit against the UFC fizzled out? Or are people just tired of talking about it, now that it seems like a change may never come?


With Trump back in office, it feels like any legal push for change—like expanding the Ali Act to MMA—is even less likely. The UFC has such a strong grip on the sport and keeps fighters under tight contracts, so it’s like they’ve just accepted the way things are. But that raises a big question for us as fans: are we okay with this? Is everyone just over it, or do we still think fighter pay needs to improve?

ironically, the Ali Act would probably be something Trump supports, due to his love of combat sports. he issued a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson in his first term.
but, given his friendship with Dana, i would be very surprised if Trump signed anything endorsing or expanding the Ali Act.

 

[Deleted member 585708]

The fighters are too dumb and selfish to actually attempt to unionize like they do in the NFL, NBA etc. I won't fight for them if they won't fight for themselves.

I only care about fighter pay because I think higher pay would attract a higher caliber of athlete, which is better for the fans. 90% of HW fights look like bum fights now due to the bottom barrel of athletic talent.

It's been an eye opener this past year or two to see how many fighters are right wing types.

Honestly, without bashing people politically, it kinda follows that they don't have the best interests of the lowest paid at heart.

What's unusually dumb about this scenario is the vast majority of them are low paid.

 

[Blastbeat]

free market economy 101:
- anyone can make a company offering their goods/services (as long as it doesn't violate the rules of the country in which it happens)
- entertainment company offering people to view its fights
- entertainment company can pay whatever it wants to its contractors and charge how much it wants its clients (until company violates the rules of the country in which it happens)

if you dont like it as a contractor:
a) move to a competitor
b) switch to another job
c) if you think your employer is huge enough to be considered as US strategic industry or Major sports league, you can try declaring a labor/athlete union and from legal grounds demand better conditions from your employer. I would recommend studying Harvard Trade Union Program first, so in the end of the day you wont owe your employer or top9231913213 ranked fighter from Indonesia.

if you are 3rd party:
a) move to a competitor
b) become a competitor

if you think its legit to ask a private company to raise salary on a "you wont get poorer if you do so" basis, then ask ur current boss for a salary raise using the same phrase. Be sure to record a video so we all can have fun seeing how fast you get the reality grip with ur bosses response.

please explain why the UFC dropped its performance bonuses from $70k in the early 2000s to $50k currently, despite the UFC posting record amounts of profits.

please also explain why the UFC chose to start using rubies as title defense placeholders when champions used to get a new belt with each defense. the new belts are cheaper overall to produce as well.

 

[Tweak896]

Doesn't matter anymore. ESPN pays the bills, Doesn't seem to care about quality of fighters, so UFC will stuff the cheapest quality fighters into APEX cards. The sport will eventually grow into a bigger level and pay will become like bigger sports.

I feel like fighter pay talk is jumping the gun until UFC is larger compared to all the sports paying everyone 1M+ a year. ESPN needs to shut down the auto 500k ppv buys, it's a strange time right now where the biggest income source isn't consumers, but a company like ESPN.

 

[bng]

please explain why the UFC dropped its performance bonuses from $70k in the early 2000s to $50k currently, despite the UFC posting record amounts of profits.

you dont bother to read, dont you

I haven't seen a UFC contract word by word but I almost sure there is no such thing as "obligatory bonus payout" mentioned there so its on company's shoulders to make bonus payouts. Which means promoter can pay either 0$ or +∞$ based on promoters decision.

please also explain why the UFC chose to start using rubies as title defense placeholders when champions used to get a new belt with each defense. the new belts are cheaper overall to produce as well.

I dont know why you are putting belt design into fighters pay discussion. Its like I would ask why every truck driver in Minnesota has ur moms phone number

 

[pick999]

U
F
C

 

[DkMacaw]

what's with the bleeding hearts advocating for higher pay when you have fiascos like Puelles vs Hooker or TJ vs Aljo?

Please, enlighten me. why is it justified to pay 500k USD to a random bum for sparring at the APEX or an overseas undercard?

 

[Kinniku]

Fighters don't care, because they feel they are fairly compensated.

The argument against the UFC is weak at best.

They don't feel they are fairly compensated, otherwise they wouldn't jump at the first chance of fighting Jake Paul.

But that's their problem, not mine.

its like saying all fighters in the UFC are dumb for even accepting the contract

its like an indirect insult to the fighters lol

I'm positive half of them have never read their own contract.

 

[PaddyO'malley]

Magnificent thread Dreyga would read again as soon as mi read fi di first tayum imma go do di ting now get back to yuh soon if not see u in church broski

 

[Clark Rogers]

The fighters should actually be paying Dana & the UFC to take part in the opportunity to fight in the cage

Dana & the UFC has done more for MMA than any other fight org, Dana & the UFC were bleeding money when they first started, only when they started making money, people started crying on how "greedy" Dana & the UFC is and how they pay their fighters very little

Dana & the UFC isn't forcing those fighters to fight in the UFC, they can always fight somewhere else

Love the name

Actually just acquired some yesterday from the dispensary lol.

 

[Blastbeat]

you dont bother to read, dont you
View attachment 1070518
I haven't seen a UFC contract word by word but I almost sure there is no such thing as "obligatory bonus payout" mentioned there so its on company's shoulders to make bonus payouts. Which means promoter can pay either 0$ or +∞$ based on promoters decision.



I dont know why you are putting belt design into fighters pay discussion. Its like I would ask why every truck driver in Minnesota has ur moms phone number

the amount of bonus money doled out each year is insignificant compared to the UFC's yearly profits. theyre free to do what they want as a business, but dont be surprised when people call them scummy for doing shit like reducing bonuses over time. free to do action does not mean freedom from criticism. they could easily afford to either hand out more bonuses or make the amounts higher. plenty of great finishes and performances havent been rewarded in the many years ive watched the UFC. you need to actually motivate the staff you have working for you monetarily. the competition out there for the UFC isnt too numerous, but lots of fighters have jumped ship or been turned down by the UFC only to make more money than they would've received had they stayed in. one notable example who turned down a contract is AJ McKee, who said he'd rather stay in Bellator and profit more rather than try to become more famous in the UFC.

the UFC cheapening on belts is indicative of a business model that prioritizes profits at all costs and shareholder satisfaction. if your business prioritizes profits at the expense of everything else (including fighter bonuses), your quality of product tends to drop. which in turn leads the product to appear cheap, sterile and redundant. which it is at times; you can see articles on other websites about that subject and there's never a shortage of threads on here about it. their prioritization of the brand above individual talents makes it harder for them to build stars, which i dont personally care about but stars helped the UFC get to where they are today. there are still great fight cards, but there are many more dull filler cards than in years past.


its entirely feasible (and pretty likely) that if they increased bonus payouts by number or by amount, they would attract a lot more top talent than they already do. they wouldnt even need to increase base fighter pay. i hope you paused breathing out of your mouth long enough to read all these big words, champ.

 

[FreedomCricket]

They don't feel they are fairly compensated, otherwise they wouldn't jump at the first chance of fighting Jake Paul.

But that's their problem, not mine.



I'm positive half of them have never read their own contract.

They wanted to fight Jake because it's easy money.

 

[Lord Pyjamas]

Probably not changing that much so if you want to go prizefighting do it now!
Or never. You are getting pretty old aren't you?

 

[bng]

theyre free to do what they want as a business

end of actual conversation

I knew that the pile of shit below is not worth reading, but this line actually made my day:

the UFC cheapening on belts is indicative of a business model that prioritizes profits at all costs and shareholder satisfaction. if your business prioritizes profits at the expense of everything else (including fighter bonuses), your quality of product tends to drop

$100 of costprice belts is indicative for a multibillion dollar business and can touch shareholder satisfaction

hope you are not older than 9-12 years old, otherwise have a nice life living in imaginary world of urs