You are 100% correct on this. Funny thing is that those contender contracts are better than 90% of the other promotions also. How many other promotions are giving no name people 5k/5k contracts with no strings attached? None. Bellator still giving people 1k/1k deals and they have to sell tickets to make it on the show. It seems like people might not grasp just how bad the pay outside of the UFC is.
Since UFC pay is a popular topic right now I have some controversial thoughts on the topic. The UFC is paying the bottom tier well and underpaying their draws. This is why I laugh when no names talk about the Ali act. They need to check on how much the bottom tier gets in boxing. Remember when Bob arum was hyping up Mikaela Mayer as boxings Ronda Rousey? The last time I checked her fight purse was 2k flat. Ronda get 75k/75k in her UFC debut.
13 fighters on her card would have made more fighting for the min in the UFC than they did in Boxing. Everyone will look at Lomachenko's 750k and say that boxing pays better. If you are a name in the fight game then boxing is where its at. If you are not a name things get a bit more murky. How many 10-7 boxers you think is being paid 62k? I do think the fighters who are very good but not draws or champions are underpaid in the UFC. The tier of fighters who are the most underpaid in the UFC is the Conor/Ronda tier. They are the fighters who's drawing power determines if the UFC has a very good year or a very bad year and they should be paid accordingly.