Tag: Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang Shows Support For Jorge Masvidal Over UFC Pay Dispute

Masvidal YangJorge Masvidal is not alone in his dispute with the UFC over fighter pay. Masvidal made headlines recently when he urged the UFC to let him go if they were not ready to pay him his worth. He revealed he was being offered half of what he earned against Nate Diaz to fight Kamaru Usman […]

Masvidal Yang

Jorge Masvidal is not alone in his dispute with the UFC over fighter pay.

Masvidal made headlines recently when he urged the UFC to let him go if they were not ready to pay him his worth. He revealed he was being offered half of what he earned against Nate Diaz to fight Kamaru Usman and took umbrage at how little Dana White and the UFC pays its fighters compared to other sports.

“Gamebred” explained more in an appearance on SportsCenter.

“So I am asking for a bigger revenue share of what we bring in you know,” Masvidal said. “I got a lot of questions and one of them is NBA, NHL, baseball, they (the players) make, I think 50 percent of what the organization brings in. Football, I think it is 47 percent. Mine is like 18 percent.

“So I have these questions like why so much. Does putting the cage up cost so much? Is it the setup? But what is it that is so much? And I want these questions answered. So I thought what better place to come then on here and ask for these questions you know.”

Masvidal tweeted further on Sunday as well.

Yang: UFC Taking Masvidal, Other Fighters For A Ride

He certainly has support from Andrew Yang.

The former 2020 presidential candidate has long been an advocate for better pay in combat sports as he responded to Masvidal’s latest tweets.

“The UFC is taking fighters for a ride and laughing all the way to the bank. The ESPN deal was for $1.5 billion+. How much of that is @GamebredFighter or any other fighter seeing? Most fighters are desperate to fight. Dana exploits that. Fighters should be making 3-4x more.

“Fighters need an association or union and to be included in the Ali act. When @LeslieSmith_GF raised this she got fired. @IamRagin got released. Dana plays hardball because if fighters got what they should be getting the UFC wouldn’t hit its numbers and his payout goes down.

“The independent contractor designation is garbage. The UFC controls what you wear, media responsibilities, and professional opportunities. They call fighters contractors just to avoid having certain legal obligations – like the ability to organize.

“Dana talks about the UFC as the biggest sport in the world and then he refuses to professionalize like every other sport. Fighters getting their fair share would improve the sport because you would see higher level athletes go into MMA.

“As a fan I’m sick of seeing athletes put their heart and soul on the line getting paid pennies or nickels on the dollar and have to figure out how they are going to support their families while competing in a sport they love. It’s total bullshit. Pay the fighters.

“To the extent there’s a public lever it may be Conan O’Brien. Cam Newton. Tom Brady. Serena Williams. Jimmy Kimmel. Anthony Kiedis. LL Cool J. Mark Wahlberg. Ben Affleck. All UFC shareholders and celebrities who benefit personally from being in a union or association.”

It should certainly be interesting to see how White responds, if he does at all.

What do you make of Masvidal and Yang’s latest tweets?

Former Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang Slams UFC Over Fighter Pay

Andrew YangFormer 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 […]

Andrew Yang

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?