The average pay of a UFC fighter in 2025 is $32.91/hour. Roy Nelson has the highest paying job in MMA.

[Harlekin]

The people talking about working 15minutes per fight are so fucking retarded.

They don't get weight cutting.
Media work.
Travel

Never trained a day in their life

 

[Blastbeat]

How do i achieve the postition of Big Fat

 

[Paolo Delutis]

that's so fucking dumb.

They get in there and fight for minutes and get paid thousands. That's thousands per hour for the lowest paid one.

Yes, hundreds of hours of training goes in to maximize performance but that's on their end and it's typical in all entertainment fields for those trying to make it to have support jobs for their dreams until they make it big.

I know I'm making an argument that ultimately favors the big suit millionaires/billionaires of MMA but my point is that there are free market mechanisms at play and I'm sitting here pirating UFC PPVs anyway because I'm maximizing my utility.

It's all economics.

You're not going to force me to feel pity for these guys.

We all make our personal professional decisions. I'm not responsible for their career earnings, THEY are.

Nothing about these opinions I'm presenting is cruel or bad, it just is what it is.

There are children starving all around the world, I'm not going to waste time feeling sorry for dudes that punch each other in the face. If they're not happy with their careers they can work at McDonalds.

Although O.P is inaccurate or atleast not the best way to represent it , i have to disagree with what you say only because..

The hours of specialize training and work that leads into a career and each fight on a smaller scale ... doesn't solely benefit the fighters it also benefits the UFC owners directly and their brand...

Which is where the argument comes in that if someones making basically 100 if not 1000 times more then you but uve done all the work , or are the "show" there's probably room for pay increase...as without the "talent" the company doesnt make the money...(Corporate world or fighting world this applies, only difference there is the corporate word has actual competition where you can move laterally or upwards if your not appreciated)

its similar to the entertainment business that way than regular 9 to 5 but that said ...their are music stars who arent killing their bodies and brains in the same way with 90 million in the bank plus...how many ufc fighters are there that do?

I get we all make choices...but if you want this sport to stick around and grow... The pathway needs to be a little more appealing to the masses of potential athletes and talent then well you get what u get ... It is what it is.

Just saying

 

[HeffDoesWant]

that's so fucking dumb.

They get in there and fight for minutes and get paid thousands. That's thousands per hour for the lowest paid one.

Yes, hundreds of hours of training goes in to maximize performance but that's on their end and it's typical in all entertainment fields for those trying to make it to have support jobs for their dreams until they make it big.

I know I'm making an argument that ultimately favors the big suit millionaires/billionaires of MMA but my point is that there are free market mechanisms at play and I'm sitting here pirating UFC PPVs anyway because I'm maximizing my utility.

It's all economics.

You're not going to force me to feel pity for these guys.

We all make our personal professional decisions. I'm not responsible for their career earnings, THEY are.

Nothing about these opinions I'm presenting is cruel or bad, it just is what it is.

There are children starving all around the world, I'm not going to waste time feeling sorry for dudes that punch each other in the face. If they're not happy with their careers they can work at McDonalds.

But it's not a free market.

They require restricted contracts despite being considered contractors, nothing free market about it.

 

[Tweak896]

The people talking about working 15minutes per fight are so fucking retarded.

They don't get weight cutting.
Media work.
Travel

Never trained a day in their life

I'm waiting for regular jobs to reimbursed the degrees and hours spent training to that point too. I work in tech, guess I should be getting paid for all my hours I spent studying code, not just for the contract hours. Mechanics paid for messing around learning stuff on their free time. But yeah, fighters should be paid for cutting huge amounts of weight so they get an advantage in a competition.

 

[don't ask]

Did he get plastic surgery or did his face just get fat? He look so different.

 

[don't ask]

This thread is shocking to me. So many serious threads devolve into bullshit, but this shitpost with an obviously-unreliable AI source has somehow devolved into a serious conversation.

It just goes to show how serious the fighter pay conversation is, I guess. And I'm glad to see it.