The UFC have always been in the firing line when it comes to fighter pay. For good reason. UFC athletes are underpaid in comparison to other mainstream contact sports. Even its biggest star Conor McGregor has been forced out of the sport to seek the best paydays. However fighter pay has improve in recent years and according to White they are making great money that would surprise most people. Speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, he said.
“Money is always the topic.
But as the sport continues to go like this [gestures upward], so does the
numbers. When you become a star, when you become a world champion or somebody
that can… I mean, ask some of these world champions the difference in the last
year. They’ll feel it. It’s crazy money. I think a lot of people would be
shocked if you heard what some of these big stars are making, but I don’t ever
talk about that. These guys, they know what they make, and you don’t see them
talking about it, either. There’s no clause in their contract that says that
they can’t. They can do whatever they want to do, but they don’t want their
money out there.”
“If you talk to, obviously, Conor McGregor and guys like Khabib that are huge superstars that have an entire country and an entire race or religion of people following them, the numbers are massive,” he said. “Even somebody like Amanda Nunes, if you look at what females are paid in other sports compared to the males, and you look at what Amanda Nunes makes here, it’s pretty impressive.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)
Whist the UFC’s top fighters are well looked after, it’s clear not everyone else is. Poor pay for undercard fighters has meant fighters begging for a bonus in the cage has become a frequent scene. The UFC is the sports leader and with that comes a responsibility to pay all its fighters a fair wage. Let’s hope we see fighter pay improve for the many and not just the few in the new year and new decade.
Do you agree with Dana White about fighter pay?
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