What can be done about UFC fighter pay

[rorschach51]

This is a follow up to the thread made earlier about Josh Emmett complaining he didn't get a POTN bonus.

Now first off, I don't care about Emmett, & I really don't care he didn't get a bonus, but I just find it really sad with how well the UFC is doing that all UFC caliber fighters are not paid well still. Just signing this new billion dollar deal, making more money then ever, and they are still paying their fighters so little that they can barely make a living out of MMA in it's premiere promotion. It's just not right for guys like Cowboy and others who put on great fights almost every time aren't living comfortably. One of the most brutal of all pro sports, but if you're not championship material + act like a moron like McGregor you barely have anything to show for a MMA career except for pain & brain damage. Something's got to be done about fighter pay, with the risks these guys are taking with their bodies it's not right that those who are good enough to hang in the UFC aren't making a comfortable living. Even 4th line plugs & NHL/AHL tweeners make a minimum of close to a million a year, imo the sport will never be taken totally seriously until the start paying even the prelim guys to where they can live without doing a second job & still pay their medical bills.

Is there something that can legitimately be done to force the UFC to pay their fighters like they are actually professional athletes?

 

[Sweater of AV]

Bald goof can stop being a greedy donkey.

 

[Klaavical]

Change the name of the sport to NFL

 

[rorschach51]

Change the name of the sport to NFL

Good idea, not sure how that helps with fighter pay though

 

[Carl Sonnen]

Nothing short of a fighter union and extending the Ali Act to MMA would help, imo.

 

[DLX]

As the sport is getting more exposure by ESPN, the negative side of the UFC will also get more exposure. It may get to a point where UFC's hand may be forced once it becomes known by the casual public that most UFC fighters have to struggle to make ends meet.

 

[RetiredSlave]

Talk shit and win in spectacular fashion has always been the best way to buy the bank as a fighter. Its still a young sport thats still essentially monopolized. Give it a few decades.

 

[agoraphobic3.1]

Leslie Smith has a lot of info at Project Spearhead

 

[rudy323]

Other sport athletes get to compete at a minimum weekly and some of them multiple times a week. There is a ton more money in those entertainment arenas. People, 10s of millions watch Lebron and Tombrady compete weekly, whereas MMA fighters get to watch a guy compete 2-3 times a year.

Even guys like Conor who made a name in MMA, made most of his money due to him promoting and doing world tours and having a schtick that he worked on. Fighters don't get paid to fight, they get paid to entertain, and self promotion can lead to entertaining MORE people which leads to more revenue thus higher pay

 

[rorschach51]

Talk shit and win in spectacular fashion has always been the best way to buy the bank as a fighter. Its still a young sport thats still essentially monopolized. Give it a few decades.

I just feel sorry for the poor bastards now taking years off their life and could end up homeless once their ability to fight is over. How's Josh Neer doing today?

 

[Sophia]

Viewers can start buying the fights and stop live streaming off their mothers Facebook accounts.

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

I'd leave it up to the fans to vote, maybe ESPN+ subscribers only?

 

[RetiredSlave]

I just feel sorry for the poor bastards now taking years off their life and could end up homeless once their ability to fight is over. How's Josh Neer doing today?

Sure, never said it was right. Its life though. You could consider the fighter who figured out how to get paid as analagous to the employee that got promoted or the entrepreneur that made a fortune. Not everyone gets paid in all aspects of work and life. That is the brutality of natures systems, human version.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

How much should fighters make? Why?

 

[Dhalsim Slap]

Yang Gang 2020

 

[agoraphobic3.1]

Other sport athletes get to compete at a minimum weekly and some of them multiple times a week. There is a ton more money in those entertainment arenas. People, 10s of millions watch Lebron and Tombrady compete weekly, whereas MMA fighters get to watch a guy compete 2-3 times a year.

Even guys like Conor who made a name in MMA, made most of his money due to him promoting and doing world tours and having a schtick that he worked on. Fighters don't get paid to fight, they get paid to entertain, and self promotion can lead to entertaining MORE people which leads to more revenue thus higher pay

Bullshit. More money for UFC does not = more money for fighters. They're independent contractors who nonetheless take the work (fights) that the UFC tells them to. The percentage the UFC takes in is huge in comparison to what they pay out.
Stats here: https://twitter.com/ProjSpearhead
And, I don't watch to be entertained by ginned up personalities. UFC wouldn't exist if people didn't want to watch actual fights.

 

[lsa]

I love how people always brings up the NHL.
You know the SHL Swedish Hockey league one of the best leagues outside of NHL?
The average salary is 110K / year.

 

[Mahkor]

Name fighters barely fight once ir twIce a year as it is, can't even imagine if they made more money, 70% of the cards would be filled with international tuf alumni and contender series kids.

 

[SherdogFan23]

Fighters are contract workers, not employees like other athletes in team sports so forget the Union. There is nothing that can be done to change fighter pay unless the UFC does something illegal that brings about some legal ruling.

If a fighter wants more money then develop something other than just your fighter skills. Quit being boring. Become involved on something other than just MMA to gain extra attention (and fans).
Most of the fighters below have bigger mouths than normal, created styles that set themselves apart, and/or have a lot of charisma.

McGregor
Jones
Ronda (for WMMA)
Sonnen
GSP
Bisping
Anderson Silva
Overeem
Rampage
Lesnar

 

[skysolo]

If you don't care, why did you make this thread?

People don't waste their time, writing about and responding to things that they don't care about.

con·tra·dic·tion
/ˌkäntrəˈdikSH(ə)n/
noun

1. a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.
   "the proposed new system suffers from a set of internal contradictions"
   • a person, thing, or situation in which inconsistent elements are present.
     "the paradox of using force to overcome force is a real contradiction"