Travis Browne has nothing but good words for UFC president Dana White and his former employers.
Despite constant salary complaints from the majority, there’s still a growing list of fighters siding with the UFC and defending their practices. The latest addition: former UFC heavyweight fighter Travis Browne.
Apart from being Mr. Ronda Rousey, Browne also co-hosts his own podcast named Tough Business with entrepreneur John Fosco. UFC president Dana White was their most recent guest, and here, Browne had nothing but good words for his former boss and how he was compensated. He also chided those who expressed their fighter pay grievances.
You guys always paid me what you said you were gonna pay me, and most of the time, it was actually more. So, all these people that are complaining about it, that are just talking shit about it, at the end of the day, I’m the one that signed that f—ng contract. And then I’m gonna turn around and bitch about it? Or i’mma bitch about it to a f—ng reporter or something like that?
That doesn’t make sense to me as a man. I signed a contract. If I wanted to get paid more, and you guys have always been upfront about it. ‘Hey, if you’re a free agent, go find a better deal.’ I’ve always felt like I was part of the UFC.
When one of my contracts was up, we had a bigger offer, but I was, like, ‘Listen, the best fighters are here in the UFC, and I’m not trying to be a B-Level fighter. I’m trying to compete against the best.’
You guys have always treated me right. The pay has been there, and again, it’s always been at least what the contract was, and most of the time it was more. So these people that are complaining, people in the media that don’t f—ng hear that they hear the little bitch that’s crying and complaining. Because you get these, like, entitled people. Or I don’t know where the f—k it comes from.
It’s like, they’re just whiny little bitches, and then they go to more whiny little bitches that’ll write about it.
Browne understands the UFC’s business model of building up the brand over building up a single fighter. And as White explained, it’s actually for everybody’s benefit.
It works both ways. ‘Cause what happens is, when somebody comes in and they start working their way up in the UFC, the brand builds them up and turns them into stars.
Then once you have the brand plus Chuck Liddell, the brand plus Matt Hughes, the brand plus Ronda Rousey, the brand plus Conor McGregor… it’s powerful for everybody. It’s a very incredible relationship when you have both, the brand plus the star.
The 39-year-old Browne last fought in 2017 at UFC 213 where he lost to Aleksei Oleinik via second-round submission to compile a four-fight skid. He had a base purse of $120,000 for each of those four losses.
After the fight, White publicly stated that Browne should retire, which “Hapa” seemed to have considered.