UFC vs Boxing Pay

[LoadedZeus]

you said this:

For a dedicated and highly talented fighter, he would be mid or top tier and thats where all the prospective earning opportunities would matter for some one passionate about a career.
​

and then included crawford as mid tier. so basically all the prospective earning opportunities that matter come when you are arguably the best p4p fighter in the world?

Go read the post again, entirely and all the way through.

 

[Steve-French]

But does any other boxing promoter make as much as Dana White? MMA also has a better middle class when it comes to fighter pay. Your lower or mid card fighter is going to make more in the UFC vs a lower mid card fighter on a Top Rank or PBC card.

 

[stereolab]

I don't know why it's controversial to think that UFC fighters should get more from the revenue split. It probably wouldn't reach boxing numbers, but don't you think guys concussing each other for our entertainment should at least make a little more?

 

[storeybuckle]

boxing is an ancient tradition, culture, philosophy - the sweet science.

mma is human cockfighting for nerdy disgusting fat neckbearded incels and a pseudo sport with low overall skill level.

ez normal

As a fan of both boxing and MMA I find your comment on MMA pretty disrespectful unless you’re being sarcastic of course

 

[JayE]

lol, I love reading all the justifications for MMA fighters getting a smaller cut of the revenue than CFL players, while boxers get a bigger cut than any other professional athletes (despite both being prize fighting). This isn't a new thing, either. Boxers back at the beginning of the 20th century were getting around 50% of the revenue while other professional athletes were getting paid very small cuts.

 

[JayE]

I don't know where to begin with this stupid thread. I'm close to 50 so I'm older than most of you. This whole fighter pay income inequality is bs. This is why Venezuela is bankrupt. The people thought like you all and were jealous and voted in a socialist and now everyone is poor. Dustin makes about a million a year when he fights 2x a year. Average salary in nfl is about that. He is well payed. He could never play in the NFL no matter how much he practiced and trained. Mma affords him a opportunity to be a millionaire. Only in a capitalist country could he do that.


Jim carrey believes in socialism even though he is worth 100 million. Make that kind of money growing up in Cuba. He couldn't. He is a hypocrite like all of them. I make 40k a year. I have enough money now to semi retire. I invested in stocks and commodities. Warren buffet said it best. "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.” Dont blame others for your poverty.

lol, what a first post. Wanting to foster robust market competition is socialism? Because that's what boxing has. A competitive promotional market instead of an anti-competitive monopoly controlling elite MMA. That's probably the biggest factor in why they're paid such a smaller slice of the revenue than boxers.

 

[JayE]

Yeah, while the current 12/12 guys end up fighting for a grand in a marquee somewhere.

So the justification for UFC fighters getting such a paltry cut of the revenue is so an up and comer can make 12/12 on a UFC prelim instead of getting built up and making a comparable amount on a show outside of the UFC? Seems like an odd justification for the massive gulf in the % of revenue paid out between the elite levels of each sport, especially considering a lot of guys making 12/12 aren't even really breaking even.

 

[burningspear]

Most major sports split their revenue 50/50 with the athletes, the UFC tops out at 18%. Numbers don't lie. Now for Biden to introduce the Ali act. Happy days!

 

[kflo]

Go read the post again, entirely and all the way through.

i did. now want to answer?

 

[kflo]

lol, I love reading all the justifications for MMA fighters getting a smaller cut of the revenue than CFL players, while boxers get a bigger cut than any other professional athletes (despite both being prize fighting). This isn't a new thing, either. Boxers back at the beginning of the 20th century were getting around 50% of the revenue while other professional athletes were getting paid very small cuts.

yo jay.....but you know it's not simple. the same fighters headlining a card in bellator would draw a fraction of what they would draw in the ufc. bellator could pay them alot less and still pay them a higher % of the revenue. boxers don't have the same dependency on the banner they fight under. because they need to build up their personal brand. % of revenue isn't really the only measure that matters.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

So the justification for UFC fighters getting such a paltry cut of the revenue is so an up and comer can make 12/12 on a UFC prelim instead of getting built up and making a comparable amount on a show outside of the UFC? Seems like an odd justification for the massive gulf in the % of revenue paid out between the elite levels of each sport, especially considering a lot of guys making 12/12 aren't even really breaking even.

It's not a justification, but moving more towards the boxing model wouldn't help the smaller fighters, that's all.

There's a better way than both the current model and the boxing model somewhere.

 

[kflo]

It's not a justification, but moving more towards the boxing model wouldn't help the smaller fighters, that's all.

There's a better way than both the current model and the boxing model somewhere.

honestly fans don't realize how culpable they are. they don't follow the fighters from org to org. a fighter leaves the ufc that fighters loses at least 2/3 of their audience.

 

[JayE]

It's not a justification, but moving more towards the boxing model wouldn't help the smaller fighters, that's all.

There's a better way than both the current model and the boxing model somewhere.

I mean, it would any of the smaller fighters who made it near the world level without any question.

 

[JayE]

yo jay.....but you know it's not simple. the same fighters headlining a card in bellator would draw a fraction of what they would draw in the ufc. bellator could pay them alot less and still pay them a higher % of the revenue. boxers don't have the same dependency on the banner they fight under. because they need to build up their personal brand. % of revenue isn't really the only measure that matters.

There's obviously a lot more to the entire conversation, but looking at the massive gulf in revenue split is probably the place to start. High level MMA is probably the worst of any semi-major professional sport in the world, whereas boxing is the best. This is despite the fundamental similarity in the two sports. It's definitely a useful place to start when examining the issues of fighter pay.

 

[LoadedZeus]

i did. now want to answer?

Since you are having trouble understanding the post, I will go ahead and explain it to you further so others don't get confused with your posts.

OP:

For a dedicated and highly talented fighter, he would be mid or top tier and thats where all the prospective earning opportunities would matter for some one passionate about a career.

Compare mid tier boxers to mid tier mma fighters. By mid tier, I mean they bring in viewers, maybe around 50K-600K viewers and upper mid tier would be on the lower end of ppv scale, bringing in less than 500K buys. Also ufc fighters have hardly any opportunities for sponsorship deals, while boxers earn quite a bit from sponsorship deals etc, not only their guaranteed purses.

I stated as if there was a highly talented fighter, who had the choice of turning his skills into a career, he would likely peak as mid tier or top tier fighter, and he would look to those mid tier and top tier fighters' earnings as prospective earnings for themselves in the future. For example, look at Jordan Burroughs, one of the most highly decorated wrestlers in the game, and when asked about transitioning to mma, he declined saying the money is just not worth it.

As for categorisation of mid tier and upper tier fighters in the context of fighter pay, I clearly stated a general idea of what would be a "mid tier" fighter or "upper mid tier" fighter. Its how many views they bring in and I quoted my original post again here so you can understand better. Don't mean to be rude, but literally stated every single point of discussion in original post.

 

[PizzaandBeer]

Conor makes at least 15 mil after PPV buys

 

[kflo]

There's obviously a lot more to the entire conversation, but looking at the massive gulf in revenue split is probably the place to start. High level MMA is probably the worst of any semi-major professional sport in the world, whereas boxing is the best. This is despite the fundamental similarity in the two sports. It's definitely a useful place to start when examining the issues of fighter pay.

Golf and tennis majors pay under 20% of revenue to the players. They do because they can. It’s still the most lucrative and prestigious tournaments so the players play. They know they get a small %, the tournaments know and the games go on.

paying more just to satisfy some standard of fair % just isn’t good business.

the Yankees in 2018 spent 29% of their revenue on payroll. The lowest in the league by far. They aren’t required to spend a fixed %. They pay what they need to to compete.

Again there are similarities with boxing but again boxers revenue won’t drop by 70% if they switch promoter.

 

[GangGangGang]

Sorry but the pay discrepancy is worse in boxing.. Look at guys who are ranked just outside the top 10 or guys who are middle of the pack (say ranked #20-40). You'll have guys main eventing making 20m+ and then have guys on their main card making 10k..

 

[Flboycanscrap2]

There are plenty of World Champion (4 Major Belts) Boxers who fight for under 100K because they aren't connected to any major promotional company and the events they fight in don't generate much revenue.

Context.

 

[kflo]

Since you are having trouble understanding the post, I will go ahead and explain it to you further so others don't get confused with your posts.

OP:

For a dedicated and highly talented fighter, he would be mid or top tier and thats where all the prospective earning opportunities would matter for some one passionate about a career.

Compare mid tier boxers to mid tier mma fighters. By mid tier, I mean they bring in viewers, maybe around 50K-600K viewers and upper mid tier would be on the lower end of ppv scale, bringing in less than 500K buys. Also ufc fighters have hardly any opportunities for sponsorship deals, while boxers earn quite a bit from sponsorship deals etc, not only their guaranteed purses.

I stated as if there was a highly talented fighter, who had the choice of turning his skills into a career, he would likely peak as mid tier or top tier fighter, and he would look to those mid tier and top tier fighters' earnings as prospective earnings for themselves in the future. For example, look at Jordan Burroughs, one of the most highly decorated wrestlers in the game, and when asked about transitioning to mma, he declined saying the money is just not worth it.

As for categorisation of mid tier and upper tier fighters in the context of fighter pay, I clearly stated a general idea of what would be a "mid tier" fighter or "upper mid tier" fighter. Its how many views they bring in and I quoted my original post again here so you can understand better. Don't mean to be rude, but literally stated every single point of discussion in original post.

again, 99.999% of all fighters peak way below bud crawford.

i don't need to be rude, but you're not really addressing the overwhelming majority of the pool of potential fighters if you are using crawford as a benchmark for mid-tier.

burroughs can say that because he would need to take a pay cut from what he makes as an athlete already. which of course is true for most people looking to START in a new field. he's already 32...

you're not comparing fighters with similar time invested in their respective sport with comparable success. way below the crawford level.