Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has slammed the UFC for paying their fighters too little and exploiting them for a number of years.
Yang who was a 2020 presidential candidate for the democrats has previously spoken about his plans to empower fighters by bringing the Ali Act to MMA. Speaking to Bloody Elbow he went after UFC for paying their athletes a far lower percentage of revenue when compared to other major sports, he said.
“I’m a numbers guy. In every other sport, athletes are receiving anywhere between 47-50% of the sport’s revenue. In the UFC, the estimates are that fighters are receiving anywhere between the 10-15% range. And that’s not surprising when you look at the payouts for fighters, or even if you look at a major PPV card — those fighters are getting paid 25, 30, or 35,000 to fight, and these are fighters who are at the top of the industry. Meanwhile, these fighters generally only fight a couple of times a year and have to pay coaches and many of the expenses.
“You have a major sport with billions of dollars of value, where the athletes often can’t afford to fight full-time, and it is only because the UFC systematically squashed any effort for fighters to be treated the same way athletes are in other sports.”
The UFC has been adamant about pressing ahead with events despite the ongoing global pandemic. For Yang, this is just another example of how major MMA promotions continue to exploit fighters as they have done for years.
“I think fighters have been exploited for years and years and that exploitation becomes more apparent in this environment when the fighters aren’t able to compete and their entire livelihood has dried up,” Yang said.
Yang concluded the interview by praising MMA fighters and again alluded to the fact he thinks they are underpaid in relation to their talent, he said.
“UFC fighters are role models to millions of Americans, myself included, because of the discipline and perseverance and courage that they display. It is really unfortunate that they are working in an industry that doesn’t properly reward their athletic talent.
Do you agree with Andrew Yang? Does the UFC grossly underpay their fighters?