UFC 235 salaries

I would like to see their net pay. It seems a lot comes out to pay everyone involved, not to mention taxes.
 
Many people don’t understand how fighter pay works.

Let’s say fighter X gets 100000 for the event, 50000 win bonus, 10000 from Reebok, 20000 from other personal sponsors he promotes on social media etc ... so a nice 180000 pay for a fight! Great right? Well not as great as it seems.

To deal with the UFC, contracts, sponsors, financials, accounting, expenses, promotion, media, other opportunities, etc, a professional uses a management agency, which usually works on a fixed fee plus a 10-20% commission ... so let’s be conservative and say 5000 fixed and 15% which is 27000 ... so 32000 to them.

A team (coach, trainer, nutritionist, physio, etc) can be huge or tiny depending on the investment the fighter can make. Let’s say fighter X has a small team working for him on a casual basis, it’s still a few thousands in professional fees plus 10% at least to the head coach and gym, so let’s say 8000 plus 18000 ... so 26000 to them.

Some special nutrition, supplementation, perhaps preparatory travel to different training ... at least another couple of thousands on that, possibly much more.

So 32000 + 26000 + 2000 = 60000 in expenses.

Let’s not forget taxes and a minimum pension fund: depending on where fighter X lives those can vary, but if he’s lucky it’s still at least another 40000 all up.

So 180000 - 60000 - 40000 = 80000 is the real “take home” income.

Now 80000 might still seem good, especially because fighting three times per year would mean 240000 annual take home income.

But ... how many fighters consistently fight three times per year? And how many remain at that earning level (180000 per fight) consistently for more than a few years?

Last but not least they are earning that in their 20s and 30s, when there is a greater chance of “living it up” without thinking that there will be another 50 years of life after fighting hopefully, years where they might earn almost nothing compared to the UFC period.

So it’s not a very financially rewarding career for the vast majority, even once they reach UFC level. I would say most fighters outside the top ten of each weight class are absolutely not very economically comfortable, especially in the long term. Having said that, there are fighters who have little education and would probably be working very low income jobs, so of course in that case they’re earning much more than they could ever dream to elsewhere.
 
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Meninists don't jump on my head I'm not "one of those" but why are the women paid so little? I understand getting asses in seats and making a good show... but 14k-50k? ...Really?
 
MichiganMMA1978 said:
He's still pocketing over 100k a year, if fights 3 times and loses... you make more than that? You guys hiring?
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From today on, if Jeremy fights three times and loses, he gets cut and has to retire. That's not a viable scenario that helps your argument.
 
askren getting that win money
 
Meanwhile Amir Khan is getting a guaranteed $5m purse vs Crawford, add in PPV points, UK rights etc... he should get a decent chunk more. UFC fighter pay is disgusting and don't use Conor as a good token example.
 
The Casual said:
Does anybody know how these guys pay their gyms and trainers ?

Do they get a percentage of the fight purse or is it like a gym membership at 24 hr fitness which seems unlikely

I just don’t get how these guys survive on these incomes (when you not a main event)
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Usually they give them a percentage of their fight purse
 
Jeremy Stephens's manager is a retard. The guy has been in the UFC for over a decade and has headlined multiple cards and he's barely making more than Misha fucking Cirkunov and Johnny Walker.
 
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The Bard said:
Jeremy Stephens has a million UFC fights, is entertaining as hell, and headlined the ESPN portion of the card for $67k. And that's not a salary -- he's a contractor who pays for all of his own training, travel, family medical plan, etc.

Wow. That guy would have to fight 3-4 times per year (so with camp basically a full-time job), pay his expenses and then make less than I do. And I'm nowhere near top 10 or top 100 in my profession. Sad.
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Fighters work out every day, sit in a gym, spar with their bros and do nothing except entertain us 3 times a year for 15 minutes. As with all athletes, their only value is entertainment. They do what millions of idiots around the world do and pay for. Any athlete in any sport competes more than an UFC fighter. Russell Crowe puts in more work for a film than Jon Jones for four years of fights.

PS: I am a pro wrestling fan and these fuckers are on the road 200 days a week, never see their families and bust their asses all the time.
 
Johnny Walker said he fought for free as recent as 18 months ago. He's now making 45/45. Good for him
 
The Bard said:
From today on, if Jeremy fights three times and loses, he gets cut and has to retire. That's not a viable scenario that helps your argument.
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That was just an example of the absolute minimum... I'm sure being a lawyer, you should have more common sense than that? Has to retire for getting cut from the UFC? You do realize there are other organizations out there right? The more I see you post, the more of a douchbag I think you are...
 
MichiganMMA1978 said:
That was just an example of the absolute minimum... I'm sure being a lawyer, you should have more common sense than that? Has to retire for getting cut from the UFC? You do realize there are other organizations out there right? The more I see you post, the more of a douchbag I think you are...
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So he can go fight for Bellator for ... 20/20 coming off of three losses?

What's your point, other than picking a fight?
 
The Bard said:
So he can go fight for Bellator for ... 20/20 coming off of three losses?

What's your point, other than picking a fight?
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Nobody was picking a fight? Only you coming off high and mighty. All I said is 100k after shit is paid is not a bad living. A lot better than me, and I probably put in three times as many hours in that year. And leaving the UFC isn't the end of the world. He's got a name, one or rizin would probably pay him well, even if just to use him to build up local talent.
 
The Bard said:
Jeremy Stephens has a million UFC fights, is entertaining as hell, and headlined the ESPN portion of the card for $67k. And that's not a salary -- he's a contractor who pays for all of his own training, travel, family medical plan, etc.

Wow. That guy would have to fight 3-4 times per year (so with camp basically a full-time job), pay his expenses and then make less than I do. And I'm nowhere near top 10 or top 100 in my profession. Sad.
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Fighter pay is at an all time high though sponsorship money is not as good anymore. Some guys on the main card used to make under $10k and that was for PPVs doing 500k. UFC brass is aware that the more you pay fighters the more leverage fighters have as they can sit out more(plenty of evidence to back up).

If Stephens fought 3 times in a year and won all three that that would be roughly $400k before expenses/taxes. The win bonus scenario is really what fucks fighters over at the lower end.
 
Weird because Lorenzo said he bought the UFC because his dream was to pay fighters $1 million per fight.

Sanchez is getting paid well (for the UFC/MMA anyway) for fighting unranked mediocre fighters. But soon enough he'll be sacrificed to another contender or prospect for another brutal KO-1 loss.
 
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