Dana White doesn't want to pay the fighters their worth. UFC is losing talent prime years and superstars because of it

[barillas]

Yep, look at Canelo, AJ, Fury etc... Making $100millions and they are now all retired. Such a shame.

They don't fight very often, Dana has a point

 

[OLD RED]

UFC= U FIGHT CHEAP

 

[Kb7]

Lol, the shit again? Comparing the UFC pay to team sports is a dumb comparison.

 

[scoobster]

Did a thread already about we the fans losing the prime years of Olympic champion and double division UFC champ because Dana didn't want to pay him enough

Most people was defending that decision, for them is better the fighters to leave UFC like Francis Ngannou and Henry Cejudo instead of paying the fair amount.

How is this possible? Are you guys fan of the sport ? Want the best fighters and talent here or not ?

Just to add a little perspective, this are the share of revenue that goes to the players in

MLB: 54,2%

NFL: 48,5%

NBA: 50%

NHL: 50%

MLS: 28%

PGA tour: 33%

Nascar: 25%


UFC pay his fighters 10-15% of the total revenue (I ask you something, WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT IN UFC COMPARED TO THE FIGHTERS TO GET THE 85% OF THE REVENUE? ARE NOT THE FIGHTERS THE MOST IMPORTANT EMPLOYEES HERE?)

And there is a big difference here, those leagues let their players have their own sponsors and sometimes they get most of their money off it.

ALL the sponsor money in UFC comes from Reebok, directly payed to UFC (and then they give 2,5 k of the whole deal to each fighter, lol), fighters can't have their own sponsors and can't fight in other organizations either (they get trapped on the contract if you want a better deal outside).

UFC is first division, you can't be best fighter and fight outside UFC (almost a monopoly)

How a fan of the sport, and of course a fan of the fighters on this sport defend this rip off is beyond me

Francis Ngannou gone because Dana didn't want to pay

Cejudo wasted their prime years because Dana didn't want to pay

Zabit changed career because Dana didn't want to pay

The are more and more examples of this.

If we the fans don't put pressure on it, more and more talent is gone or directly will never arrived in the number one MMA organization.

I repeat, if 85% of the revenue is not going to the fighters THIS WILL NEVER BE CORRECT OR GOOD FOR THE HEALTH OF THE SPORT LONG RUN (TALENT AND SUPER STARS)

Neither Francis or Henry are superstars, big names perhaps not superstars

I used to be of the opinion that they got shit pay aswell, then you look at how little they fight, if its shit pay why aren't they fighting more often?

 

[scoobster]

UFC= U FIGHT CHEAP

Should be YFC then!

If they really do fight cheap why do they only fight once or twice a year?

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Yes, let's feel bad about millionaires as you regularly pass by homeless people in your neighborhood.

Arguably the most retarded things that people have been saying for last 20+ years I've been on Sherdog.

"Oh no poor him with his millions, but fuc* off you homeless and disabled and orphans"

I'm in favour of paying everyone more, including all the people you just mentioned. And, the UFC is absolutely the right target, as their % paid to fighters is abysmal.

Lots of people would be able to be paid much more, if countries taxed the billionaires and ultra wealthy properly.

 

[vini123456]

Yes, let's feel bad about millionaires as you regularly pass by homeless people in your neighborhood.

Arguably the most retarded things that people have been saying for last 20+ years I've been on Sherdog.

"Oh no poor him with his millions, but fuc* off you homeless and disabled and orphans"

So many ufc fighters are almost homeless themselves man!! I don’t care about top echelon of fighters that make good money but fighter pay is a real issue in UFC for most fighters.. you’re silly if u don’t see that

 

[Dana's Conscience]

I thought Zabit changed careers because one of his lungs was broken or something?

 

[svmr_db]

Yeah Cejudo deserved a $5 million payday for selling no PPVs lol <Lmaoo>

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Did a thread already about we the fans losing the prime years of Olympic champion and double division UFC champ because Dana didn't want to pay him enough

Most people was defending that decision, for them is better the fighters to leave UFC like Francis Ngannou and Henry Cejudo instead of paying the fair amount.

How is this possible? Are you guys fan of the sport ? Want the best fighters and talent here or not ?

Just to add a little perspective, this are the share of revenue that goes to the players in

MLB: 54,2%

NFL: 48,5%

NBA: 50%

NHL: 50%

MLS: 28%

PGA tour: 33%

Nascar: 25%


UFC pay his fighters 10-15% of the total revenue (I ask you something, WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT IN UFC COMPARED TO THE FIGHTERS TO GET THE 85% OF THE REVENUE? ARE NOT THE FIGHTERS THE MOST IMPORTANT EMPLOYEES HERE?)

And there is a big difference here, those leagues let their players have their own sponsors and sometimes they get most of their money off it.

ALL the sponsor money in UFC comes from Reebok, directly payed to UFC (and then they give 2,5 k of the whole deal to each fighter, lol), fighters can't have their own sponsors and can't fight in other organizations either (they get trapped on the contract if you want a better deal outside).

UFC is first division, you can't be best fighter and fight outside UFC (almost a monopoly)

How a fan of the sport, and of course a fan of the fighters on this sport defend this rip off is beyond me

Francis Ngannou gone because Dana didn't want to pay

Cejudo wasted their prime years because Dana didn't want to pay

Zabit changed career because Dana didn't want to pay

The are more and more examples of this.

If we the fans don't put pressure on it, more and more talent is gone or directly will never arrived in the number one MMA organization.

I repeat, if 85% of the revenue is not going to the fighters THIS WILL NEVER BE CORRECT OR GOOD FOR THE HEALTH OF THE SPORT LONG RUN (TALENT AND SUPER STARS)

The irony that fans bang on about fighter pay yet most on here boast about free steaming ppvs!

There’s no wasted talent. If a fighter decides to sit on the shelf because of the pay then they are only hurting themselves.

 

[kahiljabroni]

well if i where dana i wont pay nganou even 8 million
dude got 60k ppv buys
even fury cant carry his butt

i also wont pay too much for fighters that are almost at the end of their career

Yeh that's the thing. Ufc should definitely put more money towards the talent. Probably at least double. That said, nganou wanted way more than his drawing power and had to be let go. They should pay 35% at least and it should be broken down like other leagues based on if you headline, main event, your time with the company, etc.

 

[Metallicalabran]

MMA is like a throwback to sports a century ago where even athletes at the highest levels still worked day jobs or at least jobs in the off season. And sport was just something they did during a short window of their prime years - a segway until their next career in their thirties and beyond. Zabit being an mma fighter until he could become a doctor is a perfect example of this.

That is perfectly respectable. In most times in history a doctor would be in much higher demand and much higher paid than an athlete - professional sports was not even a thing for most of human history and for the small part of human history it has existed, the pay was moderate at best until the last few decades really. But: can you imagine a professional athlete in any of the major sports leagues - MLB, NBA, NFL. NHL, Premier League, etc - leaving their athletic career early to...work a day job? Like it or not, the fact that UFC fighters even have to work day jobs or find day jobs preferable to fighting monetarily, just makes mma as a whole look illegitimate and bush league compared to the "real athletes" in the major sports. That is literally how fans look at it; the athletes making eight and nine figure contracts are almost look at like demigods, while a bunch of guys that work warehouse and construction jobs fighting for peanuts in the UFC just don't garner anywhere near the same leave of respect and admiration and, thus, the majority of the public doesn't give a fuck about mma. I assure you if these guys started making even seven figures a year regularly, that the public would pay more attention to them - not to mention the level of athletic competition would go up. It really does just come down to the money.



This. But the vast majority of mma fighters are not even close to millionaires. MMA is a throwback to a century ago when even high level athletes worked day jobs or at least jobs in the offseason. This might sound crazy but I would recon there are some guys that make more money panhandling in a year, than some UFC fighters make in a year.

I don't understand why it's so difficult for must people here realizing this facts

 

[lsa]

Zabit literally became a doctor. That's not a career switch. He was studying for years and was always going to be a doctor. MMA was temporary while he could finish his studies.

I have a former training partner that competed on TUF and had a fight in the UFC. He fought smaller orgs and won a few belts.
He stopped when he finished his degree and set up his own company.
MMA was (partly) a way for him to pay for university.
Sure if he had made it in the UFC he would of course have kept on fighting.
But he did not. Only got the one fight IIRC and got beat.


also.. yay another pay thread.. we sure needed that.

 

[Metallicalabran]

MMA is like a throwback to sports a century ago where even athletes at the highest levels still worked day jobs or at least jobs in the off season. And sport was just something they did during a short window of their prime years - a segway until their next career in their thirties and beyond. Zabit being an mma fighter until he could become a doctor is a perfect example of this.

That is perfectly respectable. In most times in history a doctor would be in much higher demand and much higher paid than an athlete - professional sports was not even a thing for most of human history and for the small part of human history it has existed, the pay was moderate at best until the last few decades really. But: can you imagine a professional athlete in any of the major sports leagues - MLB, NBA, NFL. NHL, Premier League, etc - leaving their athletic career early to...work a day job? Like it or not, the fact that UFC fighters even have to work day jobs or find day jobs preferable to fighting monetarily, just makes mma as a whole look illegitimate and bush league compared to the "real athletes" in the major sports. That is literally how fans look at it; the athletes making eight and nine figure contracts are almost look at like demigods, while a bunch of guys that work warehouse and construction jobs fighting for peanuts in the UFC just don't garner anywhere near the same leave of respect and admiration and, thus, the majority of the public doesn't give a fuck about mma. I assure you if these guys started making even seven figures a year regularly, that the public would pay more attention to them - not to mention the level of athletic competition would go up. It really does just come down to the money.



This. But the vast majority of mma fighters are not even close to millionaires. MMA is a throwback to a century ago when even high level athletes worked day jobs or at least jobs in the offseason. This might sound crazy but I would recon there are some guys that make more money panhandling in a year, than some UFC fighters make in a year.

I don't understand why it's so difficult for most people here realizing those facts

I am not sure people here is a real fan of the sport and want it to grow and have more and better talent, it's so weird to read most of the answers in this thread, like Dana White himself wrote it, lol

 

[Tweak896]

In a fantasy world where we found wolverine healing like medicine, then I bet fighters could fight once a week. Then I bet you can up the revenue share because you're getting as much media content as NFL or others. You can only compare to boxing which 90% of purse goes to 2 boxers, not only that they are pulling the plug of boxing business all over because its not as sustainable.

 

[Metallicalabran]

In a fantasy world where we found wolverine healing like medicine, then I bet fighters could fight once a week. Then I bet you can up the revenue share because you're getting as much media content as NFL or others. You can only compare to boxing which 90% of purse goes to 2 boxers, not only that they are pulling the plug of boxing business all over because its not as sustainable.

Un 2023 UFC revenue grows 100 mill and fighters pay went down 32 mill

Not sustainable to keep the fighters fighting it seems

And I am pretty sure 87% of the revenue is much better out of the fighters hands, you know, the really important people on fight business, not the fighters

 

[Tweak896]

Un 2023 UFC revenue grows 100 mill and fighters pay went down 32 mill

Not sustainable to keep the fighters fighting it seems

And I am pretty sure 87% of the revenue is much better out of the fighters hands, you know, the really important people on fight business, not the fighters

Yeah, but that is all intentional. Pay went down because the good fighters are fighting less and the newbies are filling out the cards now. The strategy for ESPN now is to pay the least and take home the same. All good until ESPN renegotiates the deal after being fed shit fight night cards.

It's really a problem though, they need to figure it out and find the right balance. They seem to be intentionally cashing out short term and probably are going to retire soon.

 

[Ovie]

How are all those other MMA organizations doing that paid a bigger % of profits to fighters? Asking for a friend...

 

[Tyler Durden]

Take a look at Conors schedule the last 5yrs.
That's what happens when you over pay these guys.

 

[skylolow]

Did a thread already about we the fans losing the prime years of Olympic champion and double division UFC champ because Dana didn't want to pay him enough

Most people was defending that decision, for them is better the fighters to leave UFC like Francis Ngannou and Henry Cejudo instead of paying the fair amount.

How is this possible? Are you guys fan of the sport ? Want the best fighters and talent here or not ?

Just to add a little perspective, this are the share of revenue that goes to the players in

MLB: 54,2%

NFL: 48,5%

NBA: 50%

NHL: 50%

MLS: 28%

PGA tour: 33%

Nascar: 25%


UFC pay his fighters 10-15% of the total revenue (I ask you something, WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT IN UFC COMPARED TO THE FIGHTERS TO GET THE 85% OF THE REVENUE? ARE NOT THE FIGHTERS THE MOST IMPORTANT EMPLOYEES HERE?)

And there is a big difference here, those leagues let their players have their own sponsors and sometimes they get most of their money off it.

ALL the sponsor money in UFC comes from Reebok, directly payed to UFC (and then they give 2,5 k of the whole deal to each fighter, lol), fighters can't have their own sponsors and can't fight in other organizations either (they get trapped on the contract if you want a better deal outside).

UFC is first division, you can't be best fighter and fight outside UFC (almost a monopoly)

How a fan of the sport, and of course a fan of the fighters on this sport defend this rip off is beyond me

Francis Ngannou gone because Dana didn't want to pay

Cejudo wasted their prime years because Dana didn't want to pay

Zabit changed career because Dana didn't want to pay

The are more and more examples of this.

If we the fans don't put pressure on it, more and more talent is gone or directly will never arrived in the number one MMA organization.

I repeat, if 85% of the revenue is not going to the fighters THIS WILL NEVER BE CORRECT OR GOOD FOR THE HEALTH OF THE SPORT LONG RUN (TALENT AND SUPER STARS)

This isn't the fans fight.


This is the fighters fight and none of them seem to want to damn thing about it. Media and fans have been screaming about it for over a decade. I think I speak for most of us, we are done with outcrying about it. Until fighters care, why should we???????????????????


In the end for it to ever change its up the fighters to take the steps to create a union/association just like most of the sports listed above. Everyone of those sports without a union would be very lopsided like the UFC with revenue sharing and make decisions that effect the athletes without there say.


P.S.: The fighters have more power than most think. The UFC only gets paid on the media deals by producing the events. If they strike the UFC's media partners are not going to stand for the UFC just putting on shit events with shit fighters to get paid, they didn't sign up for that. UFC will be dealing with major pressure from the fighters, fans, media partners, and stock holders now. They can't last very long. Fighters are use to sitting around 4 to 6 months without a fight. The UFC can't go months without shows.