Don't boxers on undercards get paid ridiculously low amount as well? Nothing seems to have changed there over the years.
Besides, it seems like most fighters make the bulk of their cash through their sponsorships. When Matt Mitrione fired his agent partly over a lack of sponsorship money his agent stated that the average fighter on the undercard received between $10,000-$20,000 in sponsorships. The low end fighters are probably still likely pulling in around $15,000 minimum to show for a fight, more if they win.
The UFC is trying to exert conrtol over sponsorships as well, forcing companies to pay them to have the right to sponsor fighters. Look at what happened to Ranger UP. Also, if fighters do make more for sponsorships than fighting (which I doubt), then that further proves the UFC is underpaying fighters rather than the opposite. Surely if people are paying to see a fighter fight, that has more econmic value than someone seeing that fighter sporting a certain brand and maybe thinking about buying that brand for nanosecond.
Really sloppy piece, and not up to par with the usual great work that ESPN does. All they did was take public figures like the 6000/6000 salary for entry level fighters and apply spin to it. "No fighters would go on the record for fear of the UFC black balling them." Maybe ESPN couldn't get any fighters to complain on the record because there is nothing to complain about? I like how they subtly brush aside how low-tier fighters get paid more than boxers, and then bring up the sensationalist minimum salaries you get paid in leagues like the NFL.
It would have been nice for ESPN to dig deep and really find out what these guys are getting paid, maybe a little insight into these "locker room bonuses" we always hear about.
This ESPN/UFC feud is going to get worse before it gets better. When the UFC went with Fox Sports, this was going to happen. I saw that the KO of the year on Saturday night was like 9th on their highlights of the night. Uhh.. Right.
ESPN really had to dig to get Ken Shamrock and Ricco Rodriguez (on the panel after Fertitta's interview) to appear
Ken was cashing million dollar cheques when MMA was in the stone age. I don't remember him campaigning for the rights of fighters on his undercards back then.
A lot of people don't know this, but Ricco Rodriguez almost killed the card when he fought Randy Couture. Interesting article on it.
McCorkle breaks down how he was paid while in the UFC. It's interesting to hear from a guy who's not a star.
Quote:
I keep hearing so many things back and forth on the issue I thought I'd give the UG the real story on UFC pay. At least as it pertains to me.
During my 3 fight stint with the UFC the paid me exactly 150% what they were contractually obligated to pay me. That is without a KO/Sub/Fight of the night bonus of any kind. That is even though I lost 2 of my 3 fights.
I got a discretionary bonus after all 3 of my fights, even an amount equal to my what would have been my win bonus after my embarrassing performance against Stephan Struve. I was told that was given to me based strictly on the effort I put in to promoting the fight, and not because of how I performed.
I am currently unaware of any pro sports franchise that pays any player more money than they are obligated to do so.
Sponsorship wise during those 3 fights I made an average each fight of about 75% of what I was contracted to be paid by the UFC. So if my purse for fighting was $10,000 I made approximately $7,500 in sponsors on average.
Take an average fighter's reported pay for a televised fight, and double it, and you'll have a rough number of the amount he made on that fight. So if a guy is reported at $12,000 to show, and $12,000 to win, chances are he'll make around $50,000 by the time it's all said and done for that fight.
As far as the main event fighters and big stars like Brock, GSP, Anderson Silva, who share in the PPV revenue, the reported numbers are not even in the ballpark. GSP might be reported to make $250,000 when he in fact made $3-$4 million.
To give you some more perspective on how fighting in the UFC compares to other organizations, this is how my career pay breaks down ranked dollar wise.
1. Stefan Struve
2. Mark Hunt
3. My other 12 non UFC fights all combined
4. Christian Morecraft
So I made more in each of 2 of my 3 UFC fights than I did in all of my 12 non UFC fights combined. I made barely less against Christian Morecraft than I did in the other 12 combined.
I've owned my own business in the past and had over 130 employees at one point, so I've been on both sides of the coin. This is how I see it. The Fertittas risked millions of dollars of their own money on a sport that nobody would touch, and have turned it into a billion dollar business. Those who take the risk, deserve the reward no matter how astronomical it may become.
As an employee, you are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay you. If guys are unhappy in the UFC and someone is offering them more money, then by all means they should jump all over the opportunity. Affliction paid Tim Sylvia $800,000 to fight Fedor, when his contract at the time with the UFC was around $100k to show, and $100k to win. Who could blame him for taking the Affliction offer? I know that's what I would have done. Andrei Arlovski got $600,000 to fight Ben Rothwell so he left the UFC when he also was making approximately $100k/$100k.
Now I realize I'm going to get hit with "you're just kissing the UFC's ass because you want back in", and that's fine. Because if I said negative things about them, it'd be "you're just mad that they cut you, so you're trying to settle the score." I lose either way, so I might as well be honest.
After I was released from the UFC they have since began providing health insurance for their contracted fighters for injuries incurred during training, as well as twitter bonuses, so the money just keeps getting better.
On the issue of a fighter union, I've never really seen that as a positive thing. Unions are, it seems, always corrupt and normally, like everything else in life, are set up and ran for the benefit of a very few. Unions might mean higher fighter pay, but that in turn will result in higher PPV, merchandise, and ticket prices for the fans. Unions also mean the possibility of work stoppages, which are disastrous for any sport.
Part of the solution to the entire issue would be fighters fighting more often. I realize that time is needed between fights for a lot of the headlining guys in order to market and promote the fight, but under card and lower level guys could fight 5-6 times a year easily barring major injury. The beatings you take in the gym on a weekly basis are often times as bad or worse than what you endure during a fight. NFL players play once a week every week for 4-6 months straight. NBA players play 3x a week for 6 months straight.
As the sport continues to grow, the fighter pay will as well. Until the UFC has a complete monopoly on the industry and there literally is no other option, like the NFL has on football, then the discussion of fighter pay is irrelevant. If guys are worth more than they are being paid, then they should go out and get it. I always told that to my employees, and I never begrudged even one of them for taking a better job somewhere else. That's life.
Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammal Lawal has tested positive for anabolic steroids (Drostanolone) following his Jan. 7, 2012, technical knockout (TKO) win over Lorenz Larkin at the Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" event at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Keith Kizer today alerted MMAmania.com to the results of Lawal's drug test.
McCorkle's stuff is interesting. Also heard an interview from George Roop, where he said last year he made a total of 60-70k for his 3 fights, and he went 1-2.
I know they have bills to pay for camps, etc. I know careers are short. That aside, they are doing pretty good once they get into the UFC.
McCorkle breaks down how he was paid while in the UFC. It's interesting to hear from a guy who's not a star.
There's a couple of issues with what McCorkle says. First, discretionary bonuses are very erratic and McCorkle has likely gotten more than his fair share because of his efforts at fright promotion, especially against Struve. A guy like Dan Henderson, for example, has stated he has never gotten a discretionary bonus. The fact that Zuffa has that extra cash to throw around to incentivize certain behaviours (whether it be fight promotion or throwing down) says something as well.
Second, if sponsors are paying you almost as much as Zuffa, that shows that Zuffa is underpaying you rather than the opposite. In other sports, there is sometimes a rare transcendant figure (Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, David Beckham) that becomes bigger than the sport and is able to make more in endorsements than in salary. However, what other sport has mid tier guys making almost as much in sponsorships as in salary? If you are that valuable to a sponsor, you should be even more valuable to the company you actually work for full time.
There's a couple of issues with what McCorkle says. First, discretionary bonuses are very erratic and McCorkle has likely gotten more than his fair share because of his efforts at fright promotion, especially against Struve. A guy like Dan Henderson, for example, has stated he has never gotten a discretionary bonus. The fact that Zuffa has that extra cash to throw around to incentivize certain behaviours (whether it be fight promotion or throwing down) says something as well.
Second, if sponsors are paying you almost as much as Zuffa, that shows that Zuffa is underpaying you rather than the opposite. In other sports, there is sometimes a rare transcendant figure (Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, David Beckham) that becomes bigger than the sport and is able to make more in endorsements than in salary. However, what other sport has mid tier guys making almost as much in sponsorships as in salary? If you are that valuable to a sponsor, you should be even more valuable to the company you actually work for full time.
This is absolutely true, especially considering the money the UFC also makes from those same sponsors.
There's a couple of issues with what McCorkle says. First, discretionary bonuses are very erratic and McCorkle has likely gotten more than his fair share because of his efforts at fright promotion, especially against Struve. A guy like Dan Henderson, for example, has stated he has never gotten a discretionary bonus. The fact that Zuffa has that extra cash to throw around to incentivize certain behaviours (whether it be fight promotion or throwing down) says something as well.
Second, if sponsors are paying you almost as much as Zuffa, that shows that Zuffa is underpaying you rather than the opposite. In other sports, there is sometimes a rare transcendant figure (Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, David Beckham) that becomes bigger than the sport and is able to make more in endorsements than in salary. However, what other sport has mid tier guys making almost as much in sponsorships as in salary? If you are that valuable to a sponsor, you should be even more valuable to the company you actually work for full time.
Forrest Griffin brought up a great point, in that Zuffa is losing money on most of the undercard fighters. Not many people outside of their friends or family are paying money to watch them fight. It just doesn't make sense to pay them much money, when they are essentially irrelevant to the financial success of a card. If the UFC cut the first 3 fights off the prelims, how many people would not buy the PPV because of it? Not many, and that's because they're basically an investment. Zuffa is giving unknown fighters a huge opportunity to move up the ladder and gain more exposure than they would with any other promotion in the world. That should definitely be seen as a form of compensation.
It also opens doors for future employment, because if you can slap a "UFC veteran" tag on yourself you can immediately make more money on smaller shows. Plus, the chance to rake in some massive bonuses is always there every night even on the undercards.
Again, I don't see why people on the internet keep calling out saying how underpaid UFC fighters are when UFC low-level fighters themselves have come out and released figures and they're really good. Like I said, George Roop said straight up he made 60-70k for 3 fights last year and he only won 1 of them. Of course there will be guys who made less than that, but there are many who make faaar more. Dan Henderson not getting extra bonuses is irrelevant, he's making hundreds of thousands of dollars every time he fights - he's doing just fine. And this is all BEFORE this massive Fox deal.. You don't think guys will make more money with that in place?
Its just such a strange phenomenon to me that people constantly are begging for these guys to be rich. If they want to do something about the UFC making less profit they can start by lowering the PPV price so their average fans can watch them all.
Its just such a strange phenomenon to me that people constantly are begging for these guys to be rich. If they want to do something about the UFC making less profit they can start by lowering the PPV price so their average fans can watch them all.
If the bleeding hearts on the internet get their way, the price of PPVs and tickets will go up to cover the extra costs.
If the bleeding hearts on the internet get their way, the price of PPVs and tickets will go up to cover the extra costs.
It seems that way, although I'm sure the argument is for PPV's to be the same and the UFC's profit margin to be cut, which is fair. I am all for the fighters getting paid well for what they do. The thing is.. I think they are doing pretty well for themselves right now.
