The Battle Over UFC Fighter Pay

Mixed Martial Arts is one the most rapidly growing sports in terms of popularity and financial growth. MMA’s version of the NFL, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or the UFC’s total revenue has grown so much that the company’s revenue the past two years topped pre pandemic levels with 2021 profits passing $900 million and 2022 profits most likely exceeding the $1 billion dollar mark for the first time in the company’s 28 years. The UFC is making significant strides to join an elite group of sports leagues like the NFL and the NBA and the UFC’s recent sponsorship deals with DraftKings, TikTok, Crypto.com, and the UFC’s five year $1.5 billion dollar television and streaming deal with ESPN proves that the UFC has shed its underground and repugnant image from the 90s. Although the UFC will eventually be amongst the NBA and NFL in terms of viewership and revenue, there is an aspect of the UFC that falls far behind the other top sports leagues: athlete salaries.

According to an article from wayofmartialarts.com, the UFC’s salary structure is divided into three tiers. Low tier fighters make from $10,000 to $30,000 per fight, middle tier fighters make from $80,000 to $250,000 per fight, and high tier fighters make from $500,000 to $3,000,000 per fight (https://wayofmartialarts.com/how-much-money-do-mma-fighters-in-the-ufc-make/). In addition to a base salary, fighters can earn bonuses by winning fights, through fight performance awards, PPV revenue, sponsorships, and endorsements. The average salary for a UFC fighter last year was $160,000 dollars, only a slight increase from 2020’s $148,000 dollars. The base salary for the champions and most popular fighters in the UFC is a little over $600,000, which is nowhere near the $11,000,000 and $22,000,000 dollar salary of star athletes in the NFL and NBA. In addition to low salaries, UFC fighters must also pay for their own expenses and the UFC made it difficult for fighters to make extra cash through endorsements on gear, since Venum and Reebok are the official and only gear sponsors of the UFC. The controversy that surrounds UFC fighter pay has created one of the biggest fights in the company’s history, a two sided battle between the fighters and the UFC’s president, Dana White.

On one side of the debate, are the UFC fighters. There are around 700 fighters under contract and only 20% of UFC’s yearly revenue are going to the fighters’ wages. While some top fighters like Conor McGregor might not complain about salaries since they can make up ten to twenty million dollars a year off of fights and endorsements, less popular UFC fighters have to struggle to get by. One of the arguments that UFC fighters make is that the UFC salary isn’t enough to provide for themselves and their families, so many of them have to work jobs outside of fighting for the biggest MMA promotion in the world. A few examples of fighters working second jobs are Geoff Neal working as a waiter in Texas, Eddie Wineland working as a firefighter in Chicago, Al Iaquinta working as a realtor, and Dominic Reyes working as an IT technical support worker in California (https://fightnomads.com/ufc-fighters-with-day-jobs). A second argument is that the UFC doesn’t cover the fighters’ expenses. In an article, former UFC lightweight Myles Jury revealed that fighters have to pay for their own expenses. Jury explains that when he was starting out in the UFC his salary per fight was $10,000 and then an extra $10,000 if he won. After the fight, Jury had to pay $2,000 to his gym, $4,000 to management, $6,000 to taxes, $500 in medical bills, $1,000 to coaching, and $1,000 miscellaneous (https://www.sportsjoe.ie/mma/ufc-star-myles-jury-gives-eye-opening-breakdown-of-fighters-expenses-46301). Out of the $20,000 Jury earned from a win, his total profit was only $5,500, since he used the other $14,500 to pay off expenses. Jury isn’t the only fighter to speak up on this issue, since prominent fighters like Miesha Tate, Jared Cannoier, and current champion Charles Oliviera have all spoken out about this issue (https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/5-times-ufc-fighters-explained-pay-inadequate).

A third argument UFC fighters make is that the former Reebok deal and the current Venum deal takes away the fighters’ opportunity to earn money through sponsorship and endorsements. Before the UFC made apparel and gear deals with Reebok and Venum, UFC fighters were allowed to wear sponsors on their fight gear and on banners in their corners. By having numerous sponsors on their gear and corner banners, fighters were able to pocket a couple thousand dollars a fight in addition to their base salary. Under Reebok and now Venum, outside endorsements are banned and fighters are required to wear Reebok and Venum gear only. The problem with wearing Venum gear only is that UFC fighters only receive 20% of the money the UFC makes off the Venum deal. A fourth argument UFC fighters make is that most MMA fighters and UFC fighters are in favor of a union. In a poll done by the Athletic, nearly 80% of the MMA fighters that voted are in favor of a fighter’s union (https://theathletic.com/1850784/2020/06/03/mma-fighters-support-association-unionization-no-clear-path/). Unfortunately, a lack of organization and tight control from the UFC have made the progress of creating a fighter’s union stagnant.

On the opposite side of the debate is UFC president Dana White and Endeavor, the company that owns the UFC. Dana White took over the company in 2001 and is credited with helping make the UFC brand and MMA mainstream and successful. Dana White has received criticism since his annual salary as president of the UFC is $20 million a year and his net worth is half a billion dollars, while the average fighter salary is around $160,000. Nonetheless, White and Endeavor have their arguments for why they pay fighters the way they do.​ A few of the arguments that Dana White makes is highlighted in a statement for the website, MMA Junkie, “Fighter pay has continually gone up every year since we owned the business. Obviously, there’s been tons more opportunities with the outfitting policy, some of the sponsors that we’ve brought in that spend tons of money with the fighters too. There’s a lot of opportunity here for the fighters.” (https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/7/8/22568806/dana-white-tells-critics-ufc-fighter-pay-to-back-off-this-is-mine-and-this-is-the-way-were-doing-it). In addition to arguing that fighter pay has gone up every year and that a cut of the new sponsorship deals goes to the fighters, Dana White has also argued that paying the fighters the way the UFC does helps keep the UFC up and running and keeps the fighters incentivized to perform at the highest level. At a Stanford lecture White said, “You know what happens when you get 37 million dollars if you’re a fighter, [you say] ‘I don’t want to get punched in the face, I got 37 million dollars man’… We incentivize guys to fight. You’re going to get money to show, and you get money to win, and then you get money for the best fight of the night, you get money for the best knockout, money for the best submission.” (https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-watch-when-dana-white-explained-incentive-based-structure-fighter-pay-stanford-university). UFC owner, Endeavor, has also argued for the UFC’s current pay structure and rejects comparisons to top leagues like the NFL and NBA with the claim that the UFC doesn’t have a fighters’ union and is a much smaller organization than the NFL, the NBA, and the MLB.

Besides the two sides of the debate, there are a variety of angles or lenses this issue can be viewed through. The most basic way this issue can be viewed is through the lens of economics. The heart of the issue is that the UFC fighters aren’t getting paid as much as they should, especially compared to the organization’s consistently increasing revenue stream and the yearly salaries of the UFC’s higher ups. The issue can also be viewed through the lens of violence, since MMA is one of the most dangerous sports in the world and when fighters step into the octagon, there is a good chance they will suffer a broken bone, concussion, cut, etc. The low to middle tier pay structure of the UFC and the minimal covering of expenses doesn’t exactly support fighters and their families, especially if fighters have long term health setbacks due to the brutal fights they waged during their time in the UFC. An example of this comes from a tragic article and interview titled “The Cost of Being ‘The King” which explains how the UFC stopped covering medical expenses for fighter Spencer Fisher, even though he was a pivotal reason for the UFC’s early success (https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/1/12/21554602/the-cost-of-being-the-king-spencer-fisher-ufc).

In addition to these two themes, another possible lens to view this issue is through gender and the wage gap. Unlike the NFL or the NBA, the UFC has a men’s and women’s division. The fighters in the UFC’s women division earn around 40% of what the male fighters earn. MMAchannel.com revealed that the UFC’s top female fighter, Amanda Nunes, makes around $350,000 dollars base salary and then an extra $150,000 bonus (https://mmachannel.com/how-much-do-ufc-fighters-earn-heres-a-closer-look/). Even though Nunes is a top fighter in the UFC, her pay is significantly less than the top male fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov. While Dana White has claimed that the UFC is the sports organization with the most equality since with the UFC promotes female fighters by having numerous fights from the women’s division on every fight card and having female fighters main event PPV cards, there is an obvious pay gap between the men and women competitors that is very comparable to the likes of other sports.

A fourth lens to view this issue is through the race and nationalities of the fighters. Although there isn’t nearly enough background and facts to completely support this, there has been recent speculation that the UFC is able to exploit the fighters and pay the low salaries because many of the fighters come from other countries and low income situations. The current UFC roster consists of fighters from 71 countries. A significant number of UFC fighters are from other countries, speak a variety of different languages, and are from low income areas and situations. It is believed that these fighters have very little power against the monopolistic ways of the UFC and Dana White, therefore they have to fight for very little money.

As the UFC continues to gain popularity and make its way into the mainstream, attention and awareness on the UFC increases as well. Fighter pay was never an issue ten years ago, but now is a heated debate within the UFC and even in the general sports world. In the past couple years, it has been common to see Dana White deflect criticism during interviews by stating, “Listen, if you don’t like it, go start your own MMA league and pay ’em whatever you want to pay ’em. This is mine and this is the way we’re doing it.” (https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/7/8/22568806/dana-white-tells-critics-ufc-fighter-pay-to-back-off-this-is-mine-and-this-is-the-way-were-doing-it) or even current UFC champions like Aljamain Sterling arguing for more pay by stating, “You mean to tell me if you gave us an extra 5% that’s gonna kill you guys? …an extra 5% of upwards of 900 million? I don’t know the exact number, upwards of over 800 million dollars? …I think you guys will survive.” (https://www.mmanews.com/2022/04/aljamain-sterling-fighter-pay/). With an expanding social media presence, fight events exclusively airing through ESPN, and individual UFC fighters gaining immense popularity, a combination of fan support and fighter popularity might be enough to give more power and say to the fighters. At the time of this writing though, it is still too early to tell. Just as the UFC rapidly evolves, so does the issue of fighter pay in the UFC.

Work Cited

Way of Martial Arts. (2022, April 2). How much do UFC fighters get paid? (2020 earnings revealed). Way of Martial Arts. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://wayofmartialarts.com/how-much-money-do-mma-fighters-in-the-ufc-make/

mrcanningHi. (2021, December 22). 10 surprising UFC fighters with day jobs in 2022. Fightnomads. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://fightnomads.com/ufc-fighters-with-day-jobs

TheJivemaster. (2015, October 27). UFC star Myles Jury gives eye-opening breakdown of fighters’ expenses. SportsJOE.ie. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.sportsjoe.ie/mma/ufc-star-myles-jury-gives-eye-opening-breakdown-of-fighters-expenses-46301

Krishna, S. (2021, August 26). 5 times UFC fighters explained why their pay was inadequate. Sports news. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/5-times-ufc-fighters-explained-pay-inadequate

Dundas, C. (n.d.). MMA fighters overwhelmingly support unionization, despite no clear path forward. The Athletic. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://theathletic.com/1850784/2020/06/03/mma-fighters-support-association-unionization-no-clear-path/

Lee, A. K. (2021, July 8). Dana White tells critics of UFC fighter pay to back off: ‘this is mine and this is the way we’re doing it’. MMA Fighting. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/7/8/22568806/dana-white-tells-critics-ufc-fighter-pay-to-back-off-this-is-mine-and-this-is-the-way-were-doing-it

Mitra, A. (2022, January 19). Watch: When Dana White explained his incentive-based structure of fighter pay at Stanford University. Sports news. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-watch-when-dana-white-explained-incentive-based-structure-fighter-pay-stanford-university

Marrocco, S. (2021, January 12). The cost of being ‘The king’. MMA Fighting. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.mmafighting.com/2021/1/12/21554602/the-cost-of-being-the-king-spencer-fisher-ufc

E, C. (2021, September 21). How much do UFC fighters earn? — here’s A closer look. MMACHANNEL. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://mmachannel.com/how-much-do-ufc-fighters-earn-heres-a-closer-look/

Calhoun, C. (2022, April 22). Aljamain Sterling weighs in on UFC fighter pay controversy. MMA News. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.mmanews.com/2022/04/aljamain-sterling-fighter-pay/