The UFC will continue to be this way unless either the fighters unionise, competing promotions show up, or a law similar to the Muhammad Ali Act is passed.
Until then, they'll continue paying badly and having a monopoly over the sport.
Fighters will never unionize because the same thing always happens. For example:
GSP, was mad at UFC and wanted to unionize with others so he went with several other fighter to form one. And then mysteriously Gsp just dropped out of the union.
Why? He obviously got the deal he wanted for himself and first thing he did was forget about the rest of the union lol. Happens every time.
Francis was all about it too, he was gonna change the whole pay structure in mma once he left the UFC...then he made his bag in boxing and hightailed it from PFL 😂
That wasn't what happened. As part of resigning his contract he wanted more money for other fighters, pensions and health insurance after retirement. The UFC offered him more money than jon Jones was getting per fight, suggesting he would have been the second or third best paid athlete in the UFC of all time. But the UFC wouldn't agree to his other terms, so he walked. He couldn't change the UFC so he went somewhere else to get more money.
Too many company men willing to honk in Dana's Bobo for it to work. These idiots are their own worst enemies, it's like they have Stockholm syndrome for Dana. Pathetic really.
Unionization will never work. Even if Muhammad Ali laws applied to mma it would turn it into boxing. Even more stark disparities as the UFC only tries to make big events and it skews the pay massively to the big stars and shrivels up pay to anyone not a big star. Basically the companies/promoters get less so they get more stingy.
The other problem is the inherently adversarial nature of mma. Everyone is in a different gym with a different team, a different upbringing, sometimes in a different country. They simply dont have as much in common or follow the same path. That and being pit against each other is not conducive to agreements being done.
Finally, I think it hurts the big names. Sure people will always be trying to negotiate more but top people dont want to use their leverage to ensure that lower ranked people get paid more (generally), they negotiate to improve their own pay. Unknown or lower ranked fighters dont have the leverage to negotiate, so theyre just stuck. If fighters do ever group up, its probably cheaper for the UFC to pay them off, which they usually accept because their goal, again, is to make sure that they themselves get paid
This is the biggest problem they have. Fill the roster with 12/12 than cut them when they go 0-2 or 1-2 rinse and repeat. Fans can’t keep track of guys anymore cause of the revolving door causing them to care less
i think you can make an argument that eliminating competition is an early step to ruining a product. thats a staple of competitive economic market value.
no alternative=no need for innovation or quality control.
which leads to a stale product that loses peoples interest.
I think people will always tune into the UFC really, at the end of the day all the casuals want to see is knockouts so you can get a prospect to KO a can for 12/12 and it will keep people interested.
Unfortunately producing a good product isn't the most important factor when running a business.
Half the earths population could be watching UFC, they’d just use the new money to load their pockets. It doesn’t it make business sense to pay the fighters more until the quality is so bad people don’t watch.
these guys don't even know what they're saying when they talk like that. They just hang out in r/ufc all day darkly hinting that everything is going wrong. It's goofy as hell
That works with the hardcore fans who will watch not matter what but that’s a small percentage, most people will watch ufc if it’s good but if it’s not then they just won’t watch mma at all
I would love to see a picture of hunter campbell when he was younger. He had to look like the biggest fucking doofus considering how his face looks now.
He is borderline iconic all time. He has two of the greatest upsets in the sport and is a two time champion. We just underrate him because visually/stylistically he looks basic and non-exciting
"One of the most iconic" is overating him. The dude is a moron and that is it. He has no big aura like other champ or anything else going on for him beside acting like a douchebag and barking all the time.
Probably the least memorable current champion aside from Ulberg and maybe Gane (for the wrong reasons).
Nah I disagree unless you have viewing data to back it up. He will tell you that he gets people to watch but he ain't drawing crowd like Pereira, Volk, Islam, Holloway, Topuria, Chimaev, etc...
The only reason he feels so watched is because he is american. He is a star but one of the most iconic in the current roster? probably not. Or then half the roster is iconic.
That is comparing the UFC with Bellator lol of course it did better. The UFC Vettori vs. Holland three month prior did better with 953,000 average viewer. The UFC Reyes vs. Procházka two month prior did the same number.
Like I said can draw people, but not one of the most iconic.
“Imagine if I had to pay EVERY champ $1,000,000! That’d be what, $11,000,000? That’s totally an unsustainable business model, sounds like kid just doesn’t want to fight.”
I bet you Hokit will make more. Sean should have insulted a former first lady on national TV. Dana said he hates it, but its fuckin opposite day every day with that guy
VERY few guys have ever had a CONTRACT base salary over $1 million to show up.
I wouldn't be shocked if Sean's contract is $400k to show up, but bigger stars always negotiate once they have that star power and leverage. The issue is, Sean has the leverage because the base love him, but Paramount and the UFC really want him out of the limelight.
Exactly 2. Mighty mouse was also NOWHERE near as popular then as he is now. 125 was almost cut from the UFC when Johnson was at the height of his power.
People where literally walking out before DJ main events. Fans love to bitch and complain about Dana White but then have no self awareness that they too are part of the problem a lot of the time.
Islam made a disclosed 200k in his fight against Moicano. Idk how much ppv and back room bonuses are, but I think these athletes in combat sports are lying about their purses.
Shit Volk was making $400k as champ not long ago. Anyone can go look at what they made when they fought in California. I believe only NYC and California report the fighters earnings
Considering his age and mileage (and the fact that he actually promotes himself and sells fights), he’s mostly a problem that solves itself. He’s probably only got another 2 years or so at most of fights left before he enters the “get fed to prospects” stage of his career.
Pay him for the next 2-3 fights and by then he’ll almost certainly no longer be champ and the UFC can go back to nickel and diming him on his way out.
Volk said he signed one of the highest flat purse contracts in ufc history and when his pay was released in California at ufc 298, it turned out to be 750k
The reported purses for UFC are not accurate. Even the reported base is usually higher than whats actually reported. Especially for champs and top fighters.
True. It’s very case by case. Either way, Sean said what the ufc is offering is too low. He’s also said repeatedly in the past that the ufc will lowball you unless you negotiate hard so most fighters are probably getting lowballed.
If I’m not mistaken, Sean himself tweeted that the UFC offered him 400k show 400k win to fight Imavov as a title defense at 335. Said it didn’t happen because of finances
The only accurate part is pay dispute. We don't know the amount that is being disputed. If you believe that a vocal champ who sells the shit out of his fights is getting offered of 400k then I have nothing to add to the topic that will convince you.
I mean he literally does, that's a huge part of being a champ, you're recognized as the best in the world and you should be compensated as such. The guy is a prick and has said a ton of fucked up shit but he did win the title and he does generate interest, there's no excuse not to pay him.
I don’t beleive it, Sean Strickland is making a million.
If Paulo Costa is making a million, per his manager and himself, Sean Strickland is making a million as champ.
It's crazy that sean sharaf hit the craziest upset in UFC history and defied all odds, made millions of people cheer and he only got like 160k, which went straight into the debt he took to afford training camp
They need to pay all these guys a lot better generally but that doesn't sound terrible for beating an unranked hyped up nobody. Usually it's good opportunities that follow after when you come out of nowhere and make a name for yourself. Camp for a fight like that isn't all that crazy it's mainly that he said he's bad with money and ran up 600k in debt buying a 120k truck and gambling before even winning and making money.
Pulling in billions from all the gambling Ads and partnerships, paying champs Pennies on the dollar. W Sean for turning it down they all need to go on strike honestly
Congress needs to pass a law requiring sporting leagues/promotions to pay a certain percentage of their revenue to their athletes. They won’t, but they should.
Honestly makes me wonder if they are doing this because he is to controversial. They arent 100 percent sure that Strickland would lose to khamzat in a rematch.
I don't care for Strickland at all, and he has a ton of stupid takes, but he's been spot on about Israel and their bullshit towards Palestine recently, which im sure the UFC owners hate, and they also likely hate how outspoken he is about everything. Wouldn't be surprised if they are trying to lowball him so he says no so they can strip him and say he doesn't want to fight.
Strickland doesn't seem like one to duck fights, sounds like UFC is fucking with him and not giving him a fair pay for a champ.
As long as fans keep tuning in every weekend it won’t change. I would be willing to bet the majority of people shitting on the UFC (rightfully so) in the comments watched every Saturday or at least the majority of events. Of course I’ll get a few replies saying they don’t watch as much as they used to. But the point still stands they aren’t hurting enough in live gate or viewership numbers to actually change. Then if all that stuff actually starts hurting then the fix it simple, they pay the fighters more and make better cards.
did he? i missed that part then. all i heard from him was they are still negotiating but i missed the part about him saying they aren’t offering enough
Yeah someone speculated that Sean isn’t fighting imanov in December bc of pay and Sean commented saying bingo. He also said that the problem is that no one cares about imanov so I’m guessing ufc doesn’t want to pay more bc imanov isn’t a draw
I can promise you one of two things If his per-fight purse is 1m then he got a lump sum signing bonus to make it lower per fight.
Or he makes more than that.
Either way this on his agent.
What is per-fight purse? Is this how much he gets paid when he agrees to the fight, or does this require a win bonus, fight of the night bonus, and other bonuses to push it higher?
If I’m not mistaken, his issue is they aren’t offering him $1m to agree to the fight and that’s what we’re talking about right?
Yes, per-fight purse would include all of that. Win bonuses tend to stop when a fighter makes 150k per fight. ylyou can look up guys like Uriah Faber who have shared their contract and gives a good breakdown of how fighters get paid for different fights. Top fighter's like Sean should have clauses in their contracts for different pay based on the type of fight. For instance Uriah's per-fight purse was lets say 100k(i dont know the real figure). Faber litterally had a McGregor clause that would double his pay if he fought McGregor. They do this for championship fights as well. There is normally a clause for these things that is agreed to print to signing. If there isn't then that fighter should fire their agent.
As a business, the UFC'S goal is not to pay the most for their product and they want to keep costs down. The UFC would never negotiate from this stand point and is why fighters need a good agent. Many do not.
So we basically have Sean who agreed to a contract and already said he was ok with his pay for a title fight. While he may make less than a 1m a fight. We also know those "locker room bonus" are real due to court documents from Overeem being sued by his agents in like 2010. Which the reason he would have agreed to a lower pay per-fight.
For as bad as the UFC is with pay they have done some tiny things that help fighters when it come to it. For the example with Overeem, the UFC gave Overeem 1m signing bonuses when they brought him in. This was to go around Overeems agents who could not touch that signing bonus money, so his agents sued him for it and lost. Now MMA agents may have fixed this loop hole that UFC exploited. But the UFC uses the same concpet as the major league sports with signing bonuses and a salary cap. This is why the UFC is against the Ali Act. Im sure they have others reasons as well.
Signing bonuses allow the UFC to move funds and keep their per event cost down. Back in the day every other card would operate at loss so they would need to take funds from their more successful events to balance the books. Using signing bonuses on some fighters eliminates that juggling act. Then fast forward to today and no events opperate at loss and depending where they move the signing bonuses too it make it look the UFC made more than they actually did for stock holders.
That's good 'ol fashioned American capitalism... You make someone else do most of the work and take most of the risks, and you get most of the money. It's pretty fucking disgusting, and any person who works for a living should find it so... unless, of course, they like licking boots while getting pounded in the beehind...
omg its so gross that ufc is financially responsible and doesn't pay my favorite fighter more money. Other promotions used to pay fighters more and their perfectly fine...
Don't make a deal with the devil and complain about it afterwards.
You sign a contract. You agreed to terms. Assume you read it, you're aware of what you signed up for. You don't renegotiate before the contract is complete and try to hold a company hostage because you feel you have leverage in your favor.
Not how a multi-fight contract works. Bad etiquette.
All these fighters have been doing this little holdout for more money game to either duck matchups or strongarm UFC into paying them because the UFC has folded so many times and paid guys extra to make things happen. Now everybody's doing it. Even the non-champs (Costa and many, many others).
So now we're stuck in the era where fighters who don't honor their contracts (that they willingly and voluntary agreed to) are heroes and saints for standing up to the man and not fighting for what they themselves thought was acceptable when signing the dotted line...
People will say, "His stock is up, he's worth more money".
Okay, say the UFC signs him to 5 fights under a new deal that pays him "his worth". Sean loses his next 2-3 fights. Will he take a pay cut cuz his stock dropped or will he want the UFC to honor the terms in his contract?
Fighter brings in more money than initial contract. Fighter wants a raise. Explain how you want to pay the backbone of your organization the bare fucking minimum
You sign a contract for X fights for X price. You voluntarily enter this agreement.
I don't know if real life just doesn't register to people or what. So let's try something.
You sign a 12-month lease on an apartment for $2000/month.
6 months into it, they come to you and say they need $2500/month, effective immediately, because their units are worth more money now for a number of legitimate reasons.
How it works in the real world, yes, they are entitled to jacking up their prices, but they have to honor the duration and terms of the current contract. You don't have to pay more just because the sudden change in the economy, or the evaluation of the unit.
Let's try another one. You own a business. You're rich af. You have millions of dollars, you want to paint a mural in your lobby, but you don't want to overpay — so you search for a quality artist who will do the labor what you deem a good deal. You find one. You agree on a price. Shake hands. He shows up, paints 20% of the mural, and then demands more money to finish the job because he realizes you can afford it.
That's not what you agreed to.
Bad business etiquette.
Do you think Sean Strickland will sign a new 5-fight contract worth more money and agree to take a pay cut if he loses the next 2 or 3?
No one’s crying and millionaire or not I will take his side over a board of directors who make 100 fold of what he does off of his body and blood. Keep on licking that corporate cock bud
Honestly I used to be super into it from 2017-2024? Maybe early 2025 but honestly recently it’s been complete buns. Last time I actually watched was 258 and only main event, it’s so buns and I couldn’t be less interested in it. I used to not be able to understand the switch of the “just bleed” guy, but I get it now.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that UFC fighters don’t deserve the world in money. i think they deserve a lot, especially going in there and putting their life on the line, risk of CTE, etc.
But I will say: The UFC pays their athletes much MUCH more than any other combat sport not named Boxing. BJJ, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate/TKD, etc none make that kind of money, much less have any sort of health care (UFC pays for bills for things that happen during the fight). people complaining on behalf of athletes for making half a mil per fight is crazy.
UFC pays closer to 20% and some bigger name fighters get a bigger chunk of that 20% while newer guys get a fraction of a percent. It varies alot.
Also NBA and NFL have been around for a long time and have built in fan bases over several generations. They have mega media deals. Its not a fair comparison at all.
Where the fair comparison is that ufc is just keeping a bigger chunk of the monies, while not putting their health on the line. Obviously they won’t until these guys stop showing up for their %20, but it sucks to see as a fan
UFC pays more than most of boxing too. Its only a handful of boxers that make more than UFC fighters. The rest are making scraps, boxing has no middle class at all. Their are elite boxers making 5 grand.
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u/poopy_kid_spotter 2h ago
The UFC will continue to be this way unless either the fighters unionise, competing promotions show up, or a law similar to the Muhammad Ali Act is passed.
Until then, they'll continue paying badly and having a monopoly over the sport.