Dana White isn’t worried too much about fighter pay concerns, but definitely doesn’t want to hear anything about UFC fighters making less money than WNBA players.
As part of a recent collective bargaining agreement reached with the league, WNBA players are now guaranteed at least $270,000 per year, which was a massive increase from the previous minimum at $66,000. Meanwhile at UFC, many fighters join the promotional roster getting paid $12,000 to fight with another $12,000 paid out with a win.
While UFC contracts typically in increase with each bout on a standard deal, a fighter elevating from $12,000 to $14,000 and then $16,000 over three fights would only be guaranteed to make at best $84,000 in that year. But White scoffs at the idea that the UFC should guarantee minimum salaries for newcomers who are still proving they belong in the promotion in the first place.
“Fighter pay has gone up every year, and it will continue to go up as long as we continue to be successful,” White told* Rolling Stone.* “But to compare it to the WNBA, that’s ridiculous.
“First of all, if you come into the UFC, let’s say you sign a three-fight deal, we’re going to find out if you even belong in the UFC. I should pay you $370,000 to see if you belong in the UFC?”
White has repeatedly stated fighter pay would go up in 2026, which is when the UFC’s new seven year, $7.7 billion deal with Paramount kicked off.
Some fighters have already complained they haven’t seen much change since that broadcast deal kicked in while others have praised the UFC for offering new bonuses including a standard $25,000 payout for a finish. The UFC also increased the post-fight bonuses handed out for Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night, which went from $50,000 to $100,000.
While the finish bonus is guaranteed for a knockout or submission, the other post-fight bonuses are arbitrary and UFC executives ultimately pick and choose who receives those awards.
Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions recently staged its first-ever MMA card that aired on Netflix and the minimum salary for the event was $40,000 paid as a flat fee without the standard show/win model. It seems unlikely the UFC will adopt a similar strategy moving forward, especially when it comes to minimum salaries for fighters just getting started with the organization.
“[Minimums] have increased,” White said about the UFC. “The question becomes what do you pay somebody to come in and see if they’re good enough to be there. What we’ve built and what we’ve done has been very successful and guys make lots of money in the UFC and there’s a middle class in the UFC.
“Meaning the guys obviously the top two people on a boxing card make all the money and the rest of the card makes nothing. Where as at the UFC, everybody makes money. And I have almost 1,000 guys under contract so these guys they have to fight three times a year and they know exactly what they’re going to get paid and the other thing that is a fact, since 2001 even in the days we were losing tens of millions of dollars, every fighter that ever fought for us was paid more than he was contracted to be paid.”
“The question becomes what do you pay somebody to come in and see if they’re good enough to be there”
Well Dana, if the UFC is the premier MMA org in the world. You would think that any fighter you sign has been vetted and scouted. Offering a 3 fight (essentially a 1 year minimum) contract to a fighter in the premier org of the world 300k flat isnt as outrageous as it sounds. If they really fancy themselves the best org in the world anyway.
Their problem is they want to control the market and act as their own feeder Org by having guys on terrible contracts and “work their way up”. Thats what smaller orgs are for before UFC essentially tanked them all
lol. what a recruiting pitch. if im risking traumatic brain injury everytime i step in the ring, its not for a middle class life. I can easily sell insurance and achieve that without risking my life
Stupid, bush league answer.
If he knew his own product he could have noted that Josh Hokit has made 400K+ in his first six months in the UFC.
Simply encourage “rookies” to follow that example. Be active, perform well, make yourself relevant.
They should just have 5 cards a year so that these lower guys have to find a real job.
It’s actually a genius business model. Pay 400+ unknown fighters a barely liveable income and justify it by saying you don’t even know if they belong in the UFC. And then cash in on billion dollar tv and streaming deals, plaster ads everywhere but take away sponsors from the fighters.
The company gets a significant increase in revenue while the average fighter pay has barely increased in the past 15 years.
Difference between the WNBA and the UFC is that the fighters don’t have a union.
Correct
That’s the only difference. Fighters must unionize, they’re being badly exploited
lol at a fighter on ppv making half what I make.
I’m a nobody
The problem with this logic is that these guys ARE in the ufc. They are on the cards that the ufc is making money on. They are making money for the ufc.
The UFC should already have made a decision on whether or not a fighter belongs in the UFC before they add them to their events.
Dana White really is an absolute fuck head.
We’re not talking about you though, we’re talking about fighters, most of who have no prospects outside of fighting due to having the IQ of a mildly spicy Fajita
FRAT version:
That’s 44 game season…. So less than 10k per game so again that’s LESS than UFC min.
WNBA is subsidized by NBA to pay that.
