Yesterday, the UFC announced a significant change to the way it awards end-of-night bonuses. Although Fight of the Night bonuses will still be awarded to both fighters in the best scrap of each event, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night have now been eliminated in favor of a pair of general “Performance of the Night” bonuses, which will go to the two fighters “who put on the best and most exciting individual performances.” All bonus amounts will remain at $50,000.
While the generic POTN awards might not sound as exciting as the previous awards for gnarly stoppages, they allow the UFC a little more freedom to reward its fighters. For example, the promotion no longer has to give a fighter a Submission of the Night award by default simply because there were no other subs on the card. And theoretically, the UFC could award a fighter a POTN for impressively beating the crap out of his/her opponent for fifteen minutes, even if the fight itself is too lopsided to win Fight of the Night.
Our sources also indicate that the UFC’s undisclosed “locker-room bonuses” will now be paid in the form of Camel Cash. So what do you think of the UFC’s new bonus-system? Good, bad, or who gives a damn?
(“Don’t matter whatcha call the dang things, just gimme the dang money. [*spits dip-juice, crashes new boat*]” / Photo via @CowboyCerrone)
Yesterday, the UFC announced a significant change to the way it awards end-of-night bonuses. Although Fight of the Night bonuses will still be awarded to both fighters in the best scrap of each event, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night have now been eliminated in favor of a pair of general “Performance of the Night” bonuses, which will go to the two fighters “who put on the best and most exciting individual performances.” All bonus amounts will remain at $50,000.
While the generic POTN awards might not sound as exciting as the previous awards for gnarly stoppages, they allow the UFC a little more freedom to reward its fighters. For example, the promotion no longer has to give a fighter a Submission of the Night award by default simply because there were no other subs on the card. And theoretically, the UFC could award a fighter a POTN for impressively beating the crap out of his/her opponent for fifteen minutes, even if the fight itself is too lopsided to win Fight of the Night.
Our sources also indicate that the UFC’s undisclosed “locker-room bonuses” will now be paid in the form of Camel Cash. So what do you think of the UFC’s new bonus-system? Good, bad, or who gives a damn?
(First order of business? Getting “RYAN” tattooed on his chest. / Photo via Getty)
Despite getting choked out in the second-round by Josh Sampo, UFC first-timer Ryan Benoit was awarded $100,000 in Fight of the Night bonuses following Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Though the FOTN award would normally pocket each fighter $50,000 apiece, UFC president Dana White decided to give both bonuses to Benoit, because Sampo came in 2.5 pounds over his flyweight limit on Friday. As White put it at the post-fight press conference, “it pays to make weight.” (Sampo was fined 10% of his purse for missing weight, half of which went to his opponent, so that’s probably another $600-$800 for Benoit right there.)
Benoit’s hundred-grand windfall is even more surprising because, as the data shows, opening bouts are rarely remembered when it’s time to award bonuses. The Benoit vs. Sampo match had the curtain-jerking spot at the TUF 18 Finale, and was the only fight to be broadcast on Facebook instead of the FOX Sports network. Most likely, you didn’t see it. But in a card marked by underwhelming performances, one-sided beatings, and a brutal disqualification, the Benoit/Sampo fight was at least a competitive scrap.
Ryan Benoit isn’t the first UFC fighter to win two performance bonuses in his Octagon debut; James Krause did it earlier this year when he picked up the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night awards after coming in as an injury replacement against Sam Stout at UFC 161. But of course, Krause won that fight.
(First order of business? Getting “RYAN” tattooed on his chest. / Photo via Getty)
Despite getting choked out in the second-round by Josh Sampo, UFC first-timer Ryan Benoit was awarded $100,000 in Fight of the Night bonuses following Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale. Though the FOTN award would normally pocket each fighter $50,000 apiece, UFC president Dana White decided to give both bonuses to Benoit, because Sampo came in 2.5 pounds over his flyweight limit on Friday. As White put it at the post-fight press conference, “it pays to make weight.” (Sampo was fined 10% of his purse for missing weight, half of which went to his opponent, so that’s probably another $600-$800 for Benoit right there.)
Benoit’s hundred-grand windfall is even more surprising because, as the data shows, opening bouts are rarely remembered when it’s time to award bonuses. The Benoit vs. Sampo match had the curtain-jerking spot at the TUF 18 Finale, and was the only fight to be broadcast on Facebook instead of the FOX Sports network. Most likely, you didn’t see it. But in a card marked by underwhelming performances, one-sided beatings, and a brutal disqualification, the Benoit/Sampo fight was at least a competitive scrap.
Ryan Benoit isn’t the first UFC fighter to win two performance bonuses in his Octagon debut; James Krause did it earlier this year when he picked up the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night awards after coming in as an injury replacement against Sam Stout at UFC 161. But of course, Krause won that fight.
For the record, headliner Nate Diaz won the TUF 18 Finale’s $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus for smoking Gray Maynard in half a round, and Chris Holdsworth earned the Submission of the Night for choking out David Grant in the men’s TUF final. Holdsworth’s submission was the only one on the card scored by a fighter who made weight.
“I’m definitely excited and equally scared,” Joe Lauzon says while driving through some nasty Boston traffic this past Wednesday. On Saturday, the Massachusetts lightweight will fight in front of his home town at the Boston Garden on the UFC Fight Night 26 main card — but that isn’t what has Lauzon excited and scared.
The 29-year-old just found out that he and his girlfriend are expecting their first child together, a boy. “Obviously I want everything to go smooth and have a healthy kid. There’s all kinds of stuff to be worried about,” he confesses.
That’s Joe the expecting father talking. Joe the fighter doesn’t expect a child to change anything at all for him.
“Having a kid doesn’t change anything for me, fight wise. There’s a little bit with timing — I don’t want to fight right before or after he is born, but other than that…I train really hard and I fight really hard. I don’t think having a kid will change any of that,” he says.
So don’t expect platitudes from Lauzon about how being a dad adds or takes away from his motivation, as has often been said by other fighters. Joe likes to scrap, always had, always will.
And, after a pretty long lay-off, Lauzon has a good, tough bout ahead of him Saturday against the underrated Michael Johnson. 2012 saw Lauzon raise his star with a win and two Fight of The Year candidates, but he has yet to fight in 2013, choosing to let old injuries heal and wait for a chance to fight in Boston.
(Lauzon still carries a little reminder from his most recent war against Jim Miller. / Photo via Getty)
“I’m definitely excited and equally scared,” Joe Lauzon says while driving through some nasty Boston traffic this past Wednesday. On Saturday, the Massachusetts lightweight will fight in front of his home town at the Boston Garden on the UFC Fight Night 26 main card — but that isn’t what has Lauzon excited and scared.
The 29-year-old just found out that he and his girlfriend are expecting their first child together, a boy. “Obviously I want everything to go smooth and have a healthy kid. There’s all kinds of stuff to be worried about,” he confesses.
That’s Joe the expecting father talking. Joe the fighter doesn’t expect a child to change anything at all for him.
“Having a kid doesn’t change anything for me, fight wise. There’s a little bit with timing — I don’t want to fight right before or after he is born, but other than that…I train really hard and I fight really hard. I don’t think having a kid will change any of that,” he says.
So don’t expect platitudes from Lauzon about how being a dad adds or takes away from his motivation, as has often been said by other fighters. Joe likes to scrap, always had, always will.
And, after a pretty long lay-off, Lauzon has a good, tough bout ahead of him Saturday against the underrated Michael Johnson. 2012 saw Lauzon raise his star with a win and two Fight of The Year candidates, but he has yet to fight in 2013, choosing to let old injuries heal and wait for a chance to fight in Boston.
“Last year I was 1-2 so it was not my most productive year,” he says. “But I still had some good fights. A couple fight night awards but it was not the best year for me. I had a lot of stupid little nagging injuries, so taking a little more time off after the Miller fight was great. I could have fought months ago but we kept hearing rumblings about Boston in August or the fall so we decided to try and wait a little longer to fight at home as opposed to rushing out and fighting injured earlier and missing this chance.”
The chance to fight in his home state for the first time since a win at UFC 118 in 2010 holds more than sentimental appeal to Lauzon. It’s also just plain easier.
“At first, when I got into the UFC (in 2006) the whole traveling process was pretty cool. Going to airports, flying across the country, having your hotel paid for by the UFC,” Joe remembers.
“But now it is getting a little old. I’m not the biggest fan of flying or airports and it is nice to sleep in your own bed, eat the food you like, be able to do laundry and have my own car.”
What’s more, Lauzon’s loyal Boston-area friends and fans won’t have to go through so many hoops to see him fight live. “That’s really the coolest part,” he says.
“I have a lot of people who are so supportive and come to see me fight every time, no matter where I’m fighting. When they do that, they have to take time off of work, buy airplane tickets, pay for hotels — it’s a huge commitment out of their lives just to see me fight and support me. With this fight being in Boston, all they’ve got to do is buy their fight tickets and show up. It’s much easier on them.”
Lauzon is wrapping up a busy day of media obligations, including an open workout at The Garden, and he’s had friends and family and well-wishers on him like white on rice for the past couple months. With all the hub-bub of fighting at home, he still hasn’t forgotten that he’s got to fight and beat a man on Saturday night for all this to be a truly good time.
“I think we are pretty comparable in wrestling and stand-up,” Lauzon says, comparing himself to Johnson. “But I’m pretty far ahead on the ground. So, I don’t think it is any secret that we’ve got to go in there, get in the clinch and take him down. We’ve got to do whatever we’ve got to do to get him down and once we’re on the ground, I think the submission will come.”
If it does, Lauzon will undoubtedly bring the Boston Garden crowd to their feet. The exciting fighter says that when he last fought at home, in 2010, he didn’t really know what to expect in terms of the reception he’d get as well as the emotional charge from the Boston fans.
“I didn’t quite understand how many people were going to be there the last time, at UFC 118. I didn’t realize how crazy it would be being a local guy,” Joe says.
“Now, I get it and I’m really looking forward to it. It is going to be absolutely roaring. A lot of times when I walk out to fight, I don’t look up, I don’t look at the crowd, I’m just looking at the ground. This time, I don’t want to lose focus, but I am going to pay a little more attention to it. I’m going to embrace it a little more. We trained real hard, I’m healthy and I’m ready to go…I want to get back in the win column and if I get this win I’ll be incredibly thankful.”
A hot topic in the news lately has been UFC Fight Night Bonuses. This includes the end of event bonuses awarded to the Fight of the Night (FOTN), Knockout of the Night (KOTN), and Submission of the Night (SOTN). Officially, UFC president Dana White says those bonuses are here to stay, which is great news for perpetually exciting fighters like Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, and Frankie Edgar. Bonuses incentivize performance, spread the wealth, and give guys who give their all an official metric for justifying their place on the Zuffa roster.
I’ve already covered the timeline of awarded bonuses, so the natural next question concerns who actually receives them. Now that the standardized Fight Night bonus is fixed at $50,000, regardless of what channel a UFC event is broadcast on, let’s examine a different layer of detail.
What I’ve graphed above is the percentage likelihood of winning a Fight Night bonus based solely on card placement. This particular DataBomb will surely make the heads of some prelim fighters feel like they want to explode.
Indeed, it pays to fight last. It turns out that the fighters competing in the highest profile spots on the fight card are also the most likely to win Fight Night Bonuses. Is that fair? That (presumably) the highest-paid fighters also get more than their share of bonus money? If you’re fighting in a Main Event you have more than a one-in-three chance of winning a bonus of some kind, with most of those bonuses not requiring a finish, or even a win. Whereas towards the bottom of the preliminary cards, fighters average only a one-in-ten chance of taking home a bonus, and more likely require a win inside the distance to do so.
But not so fast…
(Click on the chart for the full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)
A hot topic in the news lately has been UFC Fight Night Bonuses. This includes the end of event bonuses awarded to the Fight of the Night (FOTN), Knockout of the Night (KOTN), and Submission of the Night (SOTN). Officially, UFC president Dana White says those bonuses are here to stay, which is great news for perpetually exciting fighters like Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone, and Frankie Edgar. Bonuses incentivize performance, spread the wealth, and give guys who give their all an official metric for justifying their place on the Zuffa roster.
I’ve already covered the timeline of awarded bonuses, so the natural next question concerns who actually receives them. Now that the standardized Fight Night bonus is fixed at $50,000, regardless of what channel a UFC event is broadcast on, let’s examine a different layer of detail.
What I’ve graphed above is the percentage likelihood of winning a Fight Night bonus based solely on card placement. This particular DataBomb will surely make the heads of some prelim fighters feel like they want to explode.
Indeed, it pays to fight last. It turns out that the fighters competing in the highest profile spots on the fight card are also the most likely to win Fight Night Bonuses. Is that fair? That (presumably) the highest-paid fighters also get more than their share of bonus money? If you’re fighting in a Main Event you have more than a one-in-three chance of winning a bonus of some kind, with most of those bonuses not requiring a finish, or even a win. Whereas towards the bottom of the preliminary cards, fighters average only a one-in-ten chance of taking home a bonus, and more likely require a win inside the distance to do so.
But not so fast. As has been speculated before, the bump of bonuses on the main card may be a reflection of the higher skill level of the fighters who compete there. Basically, knocking a guy out who is highly ranked is inherently more impressive than finishing an undercard fighter. Bonuses, therefore, reflect the level of difficulty that increases as the event approaches its conclusion, and factor in the overall level of difficulty in performing at a high level against better competition.
This may be a factor. Certainly, a Fight of the Night bonus requires not one, but both fighters to be in great shape and able to fight through a back and forth war. In theory, main events feature the most talented fighters of any given card, and correspondingly result in a whopping 36% of those fighters taking home some form of Fight Night bonus on top of other compensation. A fighter in any given spot on the main card will average a 14.7% FOTN bonus rate, while being on the prelim card results in a measly 3.2% FOTN average. That’s a huge drop, and far more than Knockout and Submission averages across the card.
But the main card bump in finishing bonuses may also be reflecting other factors. First, larger fighters are more likely to command main card presence. This may be due to their higher finish rates, or just the general fan’s appetite for bigger weight classes. Bigger fighters sell tickets, and generally deliver for the fans by scoring more knockouts. This may be an additional factor in the KOTN average being 6.4% for main card fighters, but only 2.4% for fighters on the prelims.
The same trends of division size and card placement may also work in reverse for submissions, which are the most stable bonus type across the card. Main card fighters take home 4.6% of these bonuses per spot, while prelim fighters average 3.5%. Not a huge drop. Overall, submissions are more rare than (T)KO’s so sometimes the selection of a SOTN winner is easier. And perhaps the idea of a skillful submission is also better able to stand alone in our minds, regardless of card placement, allowing undercard fighters a fairer shot at the bonus.
But look more closely at the #5 and #6 spots on the card. Despite nearly identical rates for finish bonuses, rates for the more subjective Fight of the Night bonuses drop from over 13% on the bottom of the main card to just 6% at the top of the preliminaries. Is there really that much of a difference in quality and skill of fighters between those two positions on the card? Probably not. Watch out folks: science!
At the end of the night, what stands out in our minds? Was it a devastating 10-second KO on the Facebook prelims, or was it as highly ranked fighter getting unexpectedly TKO’d by a new contender? Our tendency to remember more recent events is most commonly described as the “Availability Heuristic.” Basically, what comes to mind when we try to recall things is the information and memories that are most readily available. And that means most fresh in our minds. More specifically, some call it “Recency Bias,” and that bias is a powerful underlying psychological influence on the end of night decision to award bonuses. It’s why entertainment programs always try to “end with a bang,” or in the UFC’s case, the main event. It’s why cruise ships save their best dinner for last, and why Disney World has fireworks every single night. When searching for superlative memories (the best or worst of something) it’s always easier to remember the fights that are most fresh in our minds, and in the case of MMA fights that means the last few fights of the night. We’d like to think that everyone has a fair shot at Fight Night bonuses. But that’s unrealistic, if only because the people who decide who wins that are human after all.
So now that we know that Fight Night Bonuses are here to stay, we have to ask ourselves whether or not they are serving the proper purpose, or simply falling prey to more fundamental trends. Do they truly reward the most exemplary performances? Or are they simply padding the wallets of the highest earning fighters in the UFC? Would fans and fighters alike prefer to see the $200,000 in bonus money per event be allocated to the dozen or so fighters on the bottom of the card? An even salary allocation would give an additional $14,286 to each undercard fighter for the typical 12-fight card. In many cases, that would more than double the base pay that these fighters receive to show.
As with many managerial decisions, it’s always good to run the numbers first while exploring options. Let the matter of Who Wins Fight Night Bonuses now be settled. The next question might be if this system is the right one.
In March I made the trip to Montreal for UFC 156 and was puzzled by a financial observation. If the $50,000 Fight Night bonuses for that card sounded small for a pay-per-view event, well, that’s because they were. At least they were “low” when put into historical context, and they’ve been that way ever since.
Let’s put this in context. The end of 2006 was a great time for the UFC. In addition to seasons three and four of the smash hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter, the promotion closed out the year with a defining moment in UFC 66. Headlined by future hall of fame superstars Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, the event drew more than one million pay-per-view purchases, a first for the still maturing organization.
It may then come as a surprise that Liddell and Ortiz each only received a $30,000 bonus for their Fight of the Night performance. But not really, because we should all know that there’s a lag between success and financial reward. These same fight night bonus amounts would double by UFC 81 just over a year later when they hit $60,000 for the first time. For part-time fighters on the undercard only making “three and three” back then (i.e., $3,000 to fight and another $3,000 for a win), a windfall $60,000 bonus was potentially life-changing. And bonuses weren’t done growing yet.
(Click on the chart for the full-size version. For previous Databombs, click here.)
In March I made the trip to Montreal for UFC 156 and was puzzled by a financial observation. If the $50,000 Fight Night bonuses for that card sounded small for a pay-per-view event, well, that’s because they were. At least they were “low” when put into historical context, and they’ve been that way ever since.
Let’s put this in context. The end of 2006 was a great time for the UFC. In addition to seasons three and four of the smash hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter, the promotion closed out the year with a defining moment in UFC 66. Headlined by future hall of fame superstars Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, the event drew more than one million pay-per-view purchases, a first for the still maturing organization.
It may then come as a surprise that Liddell and Ortiz each only received a $30,000 bonus for their Fight of the Night performance. But not really, because we should all know that there’s a lag between success and financial reward. These same fight night bonus amounts would double by UFC 81 just over a year later when they hit $60,000 for the first time. For part-time fighters on the undercard only making “three and three” back then (i.e., $3,000 to fight and another $3,000 for a win), a windfall $60,000 bonus was potentially life-changing. And bonuses weren’t done growing yet.
The Highs
The biggest ever bonus winners came at UFC 129, with bonuses appropriately set at $129,000 each. With an estimated 55,000 attendees, the event was the largest UFC show in history and was held at the Toronto Rogers Centre, a stadium venue normally reserved for Major League Baseball Games. The event also had two title belts on the line, with Georges St-Pierre defeating Jake Shields and Jose Aldo outlasting Mark Hominick.
Two other events topped the six-figure bonus mark, each one a special occasion for Zuffa. The first time UFC fighters saw bonuses of $100,000 was the summer of 2009 at the blockbuster UFC 100 event. Again, two belts were on the line for the historic (but not exactly 100th) UFC event, with GSP defending against Thiago Alves, and Brock Lesnar unifying the heavyweight belt via TKO of Frank Mir. Amazingly, future champion Jon Jones also competed on the card, but was buried on the prelims in what was at the time only his third UFC appearance.
Most recently, Zuffa awarded $100,000 bonuses at UFC 134 in the highly publicized return to Brazil. The card was stacked with high profile fighters, capped with an Anderson Silva striking clinic against Yushin Okami, and signified a new Zuffa commitment to the booming Brazil market.
UFC 156: Flat Is the New Up
Since 2011, Fight Night Bonuses have been consistently above $60,000, and more typically in the $65,000 to $75,000 range. But the trend since the beginning of 2012 has been downward. Why the kitty failed to gain ground in recent years is the mystery that has yet to be resolved, but may be tied to the maturation of the core US market. It was at UFC 156 in Montreal that the official news came: all UFC event bonuses would be $50,000 going forward. This “normalization” meant that there was no longer any downside for bonus seekers competing on lower profile (i.e., TUF Finale, UFC on FUEL) fight cards. But it also meant that the occasional $75,000 or even $100,000 windfalls that changed the lives of some exciting fighters were gone. Many in the US have already dealt with the realities of stagnant growth: Flat is the new up.
The notable exception is what we may call “the Caraway Effect.” The only blip in bonus amounts since the new policy took effect was at UFC 159, when (allegedly) Bryan Caraway convinced Dana White to boost bonuses to $65,000 to match the last time Caraway fought at UFC 149. That comment was based on the fact that Caraway won the Fight of the Night bonus at UFC 149. In a strange twist, Caraway went on to receive the Submission of the Night bonus at UFC 159 thanks to a positive drug test by Pat Healy. Coincidence? Or genius?
Mandatory disclaimer: This is publically reported information and doesn’t capture everything. Zuffa can, and often does, compensate fighters above their listed salaries and Fight Night Bonuses via what is referred to as “locker room bonuses.” We should keep in mind that Zuffa essentially pays most of its fighters more than they’ve agreed to pay them contractually, whether it’s public or not. This is unusual and generous by the standards of most occupations, despite the low average pay compared to mainstream American sports. Such is the nature of a sport struggling for wider audiences.
The data presented here represents concrete payouts, and in aggregate also reflects the trends of the organization’s growth. Zuffa has a business to run, and the bottom line is a critical driver for their ability to continue to grow the sport. For the fighters’ sakes, we hope that base salaries are increasing to mitigate the risk associated with competing professionally in the UFC, and to properly share the financial success of the business with those who risk the most to ensure it. In the next DataBomb we’ll look to see who actually wins these fight night bonuses.
(“It’s an ‘undisclosed locker room bonus,’ okay? That means we don’t tell the media, we don’t tell the IRS, and we especially don’t tell my wife.” / Photo via TerezOwens.com)
For years, the UFC’s end-of-night performance bonuses have rewarded fighters for outstanding battles and finishes in the Octagon, as well as given fans a metric to determine which fighters are the most consistently entertaining. But now that moreandmore fighters are publicly coming out to blast the promotion’s pay scale, UFC president Dana White says he’s thinking about ending the practice altogether, and using that money instead to bump the guaranteed salaries of lower-tier fighter. As he explained to media yesterday:
“The bonuses were something we’ve been doing out of the kindnesses of our (expletive) hearts,” White said. “That’s not something that was ever done or structured. We started doing it and that was it. It was something we liked to do, thought it was a cool thing to do. Apparently people don’t like it. They want the lower-level guys to get paid more money.”
Asked to clarify if this was really a move the promotion could make in the not-so-distant future, White answered emphatically.
“(Expletive) yeah, it could happen,” White said. “That’s what I’m thinking about doing. All the (expletive) lower-level guys think they need their money boosted. Everyone thinks it’s not enough money, so that’s easy to do.”
This, of course, is nothing more than a transparent bluff, on par with your father threatening to “turn this car around, goddamnit!” 30 minutes into a family road trip. Now that Dana has suggested that the UFC will transform its pay structure — sacrificing those $50,000 end-of-night awards to fatten the paychecks of prospects — here’s what he expects will happen next:
(“It’s an ‘undisclosed locker room bonus,’ okay? That means we don’t tell the media, we don’t tell the IRS, and we especially don’t tell my wife.” / Photo via TerezOwens.com)
For years, the UFC’s end-of-night performance bonuses have rewarded fighters for outstanding battles and finishes in the Octagon, as well as given fans a metric to determine which fighters are the most consistently entertaining. But now that moreandmore fighters are publicly coming out to blast the promotion’s pay scale, UFC president Dana White says he’s thinking about ending the practice altogether, and using that money instead to bump the guaranteed salaries of lower-tier fighter. As he explained to media yesterday:
“The bonuses were something we’ve been doing out of the kindnesses of our (expletive) hearts,” White said. “That’s not something that was ever done or structured. We started doing it and that was it. It was something we liked to do, thought it was a cool thing to do. Apparently people don’t like it. They want the lower-level guys to get paid more money.”
Asked to clarify if this was really a move the promotion could make in the not-so-distant future, White answered emphatically.
“(Expletive) yeah, it could happen,” White said. “That’s what I’m thinking about doing. All the (expletive) lower-level guys think they need their money boosted. Everyone thinks it’s not enough money, so that’s easy to do.”
This, of course, is nothing more than a transparent bluff, on par with your father threatening to “turn this car around, goddamnit!” 30 minutes into a family road trip. Now that Dana has suggested that the UFC will transform its pay structure — sacrificing those $50,000 end-of-night awards to fatten the paychecks of prospects — here’s what he expects will happen next:
– The lower-level fighters who actually stand to benefit from this pay-restructuring are going to have a change of heart, once they realize that there’s no possibility of earning a life-changing amount of money in a single fight. Right now, a newbie like James Krause can step into the Octagon for the first time and leave $100,000 richer. Under DW’s new proposed system, an $8k/$8k fighter might begin to earn a living wage, but those jackpot days would be over.
Either way, Dana’s betting that a lot of his contracted fighters will start to cry out, “No, no, we liked things the way they were, PLEASE DON’T TAKE AWAY OUR BONUSES DADDY!!!”
Again, that’s what Dana hopes will happen. But look, he’s not really going to eliminate end-of-night bonuses; it’s just a publicity stunt to keep the loud-mouths in line. What makes this threat so aggravating is that it’s based on such an obvious false choice: Low guaranteed money with the possibility of end-of-night bonuses, or higher guaranteed money with no possibility of end-of-night bonuses — pick your poison.
The thing is, there are other ways to fix the UFC’s pay structure that don’t involve eliminating those $50,000 bumps that everybody loves so much. For example, the UFC could do one of the following things for all new contracted fighters, going forward:
– Keep FOTN/KOTN/SOTN bonuses, but eliminate win bonuses: Nearly all UFC fighters double their show-money by winning. This financial arrangement is apparently designed as an incentive for UFC fighters to fight hard and try to pull out a victory until the bitter end. But winning fights in the UFC and advancing up the ladder are major incentives in themselves. So instead of those win bonuses making UFC fighters push harder, the fighters became aware that half of their potential payday is based on winning the match. And so, safe-fighting was born; win each round in the most risk-averse way possible, and double your money when the last bell sounds. One solution to this problem would be giving all new fighters a flat fee for showing up and fighting, which would be higher than their show money under the existing structure. Therefore, new prospects get paid more in guaranteed money, and there would be no incentive just for winning — but those incentives for entertaining performances would still remain.
– Put the fighters on salary: Can you imagine only getting 2-4 paychecks a year? It’s hard to plan for the future when you don’t know when the money’s coming in, or exactly how much it will be. So what if the UFC signed new prospects to an annual contract that paid them twice a month like regular working folks? Even if the money still isn’t fantastic — today’s $8k/$8k fighters might instead start off with a $40k/year salary in this scenario — it would give the lower-tier fighters some semblance of a normal life, and the stability they need to continue living as fighters.
Got any better ideas? Fire away in the comments section…
