Never a week seems to go by without fighter pay hitting the headlines, with MMA athletes—current and retired—voicing their opinion on the subject.
Dana White has had to routinely defend the UFC, the biggest promotion in the sport, against accusations that it’s exploiting its fighters and not paying them what they are due.
Just last week, the UFC president was telling fighters to “go get the money,” arguing that it’s up to them to prove that they’re worth getting paid more.
According to reports, the UFC spent $2,108,000 on fighter pay at last weekend’s UFC 163 event. Although that isn‘t an official figure, it’s the best estimate we have based on past purses the UFC has released. But those numbers show a huge disparity between what the fighters at the top end of the scale are making compared to those on the preliminary card.
The almost quarter of a million that Jose Aldo made in the main event is an eye-watering sum when you consider fighters at the bottom of the card—the majority of them—made anywhere between $6,000-$8,000.
Considering that the maximum they will likely fight in a year is four or five times, a $40,000 per year salary is hardly a livable income. Especially since it’s extremely competitive maintaining a career in the UFC and fighters can spend considerable sums on their training camps.
With that in mind, Tim Kennedy, who spoke out against low pay in MMA back in June, is likely vocalising what many fighters are thinking deep down.
But there’s also another argument that White isn’t afraid of making. At a media scrum two weeks ago, he told reporters, “Believe me, we pay the guys that deserve more money. We pay the guys that make a difference.”
That’s the harsh reality of capitalism and one that some fighters agree with. Tom Watson, who fought on last Saturday’s card, said in a July 30 interview on the MMA Hour that fighters who want more money need to earn it with consistent performances in the cage.
That was easy for him to say a week ago, since in his last match in February he came away with a generous $50,000 Fight of the Night and $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus after defeating Stanislav Nedkov. But it’s a sentiment he might be reconsidering after he lost his match against Thales Leites on Saturday, leaving him with a paycheck likely to be between $6,000 and $8,000.
Whether that’s fair or not, being a professional MMA fighter, even at the top of the sport, is clearly a difficult career to sustain.
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