It seems as if we can’t go a single day without someone looking to discuss the topic of pay in the world of mixed martial arts. Saturday night was another one of those times, but the person broaching the subject this time was the man who usually gets questioned about it, UFC president Dana White.
“More money, more money more money and all this s**t. You want more money? Go f**cking get it. Go get it,” White said in the post-fight media scrum. “Believe me, we pay the guys that deserve more money. We pay the guys that make a difference.”
In White’s world, making a difference is having fans talking about you, and not just in the immediate aftermath of a fight, but making sure you leave the fans talking about your fight in the days that follow an event.
Two individuals White felt made a difference on Saturday’s UFC on Fox 8 card were preliminary card combatants Ed Herman and Trevor Smith. “People are going to be talking about Ed Herman again, Smith too,” White said. “I told Smith, I didn’t know you’re f**king name yesterday, I know your name today.”
White should know Smith’s name. After all, he wrote it on a check for $50,000 for Smith’s share of “Fight of the Night.” The fact that that bonus money is out there for the taking is something White makes sure he discusses before every UFC fight card.
The UFC president revealed, “Every time after we do the weigh-ins we have a fighter meeting in the back, and every one, one of the topics that I’ve been talking about is fighter pay. You guys want to talk about fighter pay, let’s talk about fighter pay. Everybody on this card, whether it’s your first time in the UFC or you’re Georges St-Pierre or you’re Anderson Silva, you all have the same opportunity to make those bonuses. You want more money? Go get it. Go get the money. Go out there and let people know who you are, have people talking about you tomorrow.”
In White’s eyes Smith and Herman did that, and they were rewarded for their efforts. As White said, the fight business has a short memory, “you’re only good as you’re last fight,” and if you want to get paid, well, you better make that last fight count.
*All quotes obtained firsthand by Bleacher Report.
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