Dana/UFC sent cease and desist letters to Jake Paul, if UFC fighters were doing something illegal they wouldn't let it slide. It's not in UFC/Dana's best interest to have public disputes about fighter pay. It doesn't benefit UFC/Dana at all. If they could legally stop Jones and Ngannou from talking about the money/pay issues with their contracts they would.
What were they for, negotiating with fighters under UFC contract?
Negotiating his current contract and his current pay. If there was a gag order Jones and his coaches wouldn't have been able to publicly discuss pay on social media and interviews and Dana/Jones wouldn't be publicly releasing information about Jones pay. So you are saying Jones contract is different than everyone else's and he's the only one allowed to talk about pay? Like you said a handful of fighters has discussed their pay publicly with no repercussions. Dana has publicly said there is no gag order and fighters can discuss their pay if they please. Yes other parts of the contract may be confidential but not about their pay. Other fighters may just not want to talk about their pay. How many people that aren't fighters discuss their pay? Not many and if they do they exaggerate. So that's the real reason why fighters choose to not disclose their pay information.
The bigger / more popular fighters yes, but the beginners are better off with the UFC arrangement
