It’s the same damn thing every time. Complaints about fighter pay reach a certain volume. UFC President Dana White assures people that it’s totally fine and these people make great money, don’t you worry. Media people who have actually followed this shit for a long time push back on that claim. Then out come you dummies, you mouth-breathing morons, you absolute shit-for-brains idiots.
To be fair, many of the people reading this are not so unbelievably stupid. They’ve actually been paying enough attention to know that one of the core principles that makes the UFC so wildly valuable to its owners at Endeavor is how little it pays its fighters. This one is not for them. This is for you, the brainless dullards who heard White claim that UFC fighters make way more than boxers and then went, ‘sure that sounds right, guess I’ll go back to eating paste now.’
Here’s the quote from White to Yahoo Sports this week, just so we’re all on the same page:
“Listen, when you talk about the elite, I’m putting on 44 fights in a year, right? And people are buying these pay-per-views, you know, 13 or 14 a year, watching all the other ones building, whatever. Then, when you look at what most of these guys make, most UFC fighters make more than boxers, OK? Most UFC fighters make more than boxers, especially at a lower level. Then, the guys, you know, the Khabibs, the Conors, the Rondas, you know, even the Jon Joneses, these guys make more than most of these guys that are fighting for big title fights. Don’t believe the bullshit. Don’t believe all the stuff you hear. These guys make a lot of money.”
Oh cool. Yeah, that should settle it. The guy who is wealthier than anyone who has ever fought for the UFC just assured us it’s fine, and he used the super timely and relevant example of Ronda Rousey to make the point. That’s convincing … if you’re a fucking idiot.
First of all, this comparison to boxers. The term “boxing” refers to an entire sport. And he frames it that way so anyone who’s ever seen payouts from a boxing event where some 2-1 prelim fighter was making $800 to show can go, ‘yep, he’s totally right the UFC is paying more than that.’ That person is also not about to look at actual comparisons between UFC pay and pay for comparable boxing events, on account of they are fucking stupid, so they never have to find out they’re wrong.
But forget all that. We don’t even need to be having these intricate arguments about UFC vs. boxing in order to determine whether or not the UFC pays fighters fairly. That argument has been settled. It’s over. No need to have it anymore. And you know what settled it? The fucking revenue split you dumbshit, you hopeless dope.
Ain’t it funny how, when Endeavor was first buying up the UFC, we got to see documents where the company straight up said that the great thing about the UFC was how it kept almost all of the money and gave so little to fighters. It said this, multiple times. A big part of the UFC’s value to Endeavor is that it keeps somewhere between 80-85% of the revenue, and it will not allow fighter pay to creep up and eat into that share.
THEY HAVE FUCKING TOLD YOU THAT. Investment firms that study this stuff have told you that. Lawsuits and document leaks have backed this up at every turn. Athletes in other major pro sports make somewhere in the neighborhood of a 50-50 split. The UFC and Endeavor are telling you that they want to keep fighters at 20% or less and have been successfully doing so for years. There’s no debate anymore once one side admits it’s doing the thing they’re being accused of doing, you dim-witted child.
The UFC is rounding the corner on a billion dollars a year in revenue while fighters are still begging for the same old $50,000 bonuses and going into debt just to complete a training camp, and still you believe it when the mega-rich promoter tells you everyone is making out just fine? He says UFC fighters are making more than boxers, then ACTUALLY PUBLICLY SCOFFS at Jon Jones for supposedly wanting to be paid as much as Deontay Wilder, and still you believe this bullshit?
He told you. He told you to your fucking stupid face. The very idea of a top UFC fighter making as much – not even more than but simply as much as – a top boxer? Laughable. Absurd, even. Francis Ngannou can sell as many pay-per-views as Tyson Fury and make a fraction of the payout and WE ALL KNOW IT. And still White turns around and tells you that UFC fighters are getting a better deal than boxers and your ignorant ass actually buys it?
Look, you can get in the weeds on low- or mid-level boxer pay vs. UFC pay all you want. You should probably also include the long-term, extremely restrictive contracts UFC fighters have to sign. And the fact that they got automatically enrolled in a 24/7 anti-doping program without getting any say in the matter. And the fact that they have to wear the UFC mandated uniform and can’t sell sponsors on their trunks like boxers can. But whatever.
The only thing that matters is the split. The UFC is keeping almost all the money, damn near 90% of it. They don’t care if you know that, because they are so confident that your crippling idiocy will keep you from understanding and/or caring.
They just have to every once in a while have the super rich magnate step out there and assure you that it’s fine and no one knows the real numbers except him and trust him these guys are making lots of money regardless of how many different times and in how different ways they find to tell us otherwise.
And then you’ll get online and agree with him. Because you’re that dumb. You fucking idiot. You puerile fool.
Hey, if you made it this far and didn’t hate it, you should consider signing up for the Co-Main Event Patreon. There you can comment on these posts, argue with other people about them, even call us names or whatever. You also help support the CME and keep the discourse free and unfuckingfettered.
