ESPN attacks UFC fighter pay

DrPhilG

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/UFCpay/ufc-fighters-say-low-pay-most-painful-hit-all

Dana White is unsurprsingly furious and his reply is here;

http://mmajunkie.com/news/26971/ufc-boss-slams-espn-piece-ken-shamrock-promises-thorough-video-reply.mma

Interesting story unfolding but the ESPN piece seems to be on shaky ground. It's written by Josh Gross, who has a history of issues with the UFC. Also the part in the reply from Dana about ESPN interviewing a load of fighters before finding some with bad things to say could be easily backed up by the fighters involved.

And Ken Shamrock as the star witness??? :rolleyes:

The Bored One

And of course the fact that the UFC will be moving away from ESPN is entirely coincidental, I'm sure it didn't affect the decision for ESPN to release this at all...

Even if the UFC has a dominant position in the market for top-tier MMA, which they probably do, they are under no legal obligation to share the benefits with fighters. Morally, it's a different question obviously, but I don't think you're going to convince the UFC management to hand over more money to fighters with a moral argument. They'll argue they took huge risk, made a lot of losses early on, and that their profits now are a reward for that.

I don't think there'll be much change in the structure of fighter pay, unless the media focus really steps up. The differences in pay are reflective of the different value each fighter brings to the organisation. Overeem is probably as, if not more valuable, than the entire prelim card in terms of ppv and ticket sales. Also, generally, the fighters on the prelim card are easily replaced, tend not to stick around long, and have no where else to go if they want to get to the top, meaning they don't have much bargaining power with the UFC. For the same reasons, I think a fighter union or association is unlikely.

On the other hand, I think the US authorities should have scrutinised the takeover of Strikeforce more closely and should block any takeover of Bellator, if that were to happen.

CageWager

If you look an entire UFC card, bottom guy makes 6k, GSP makes 5 mil, but there are a lot of guys in between makeing 40k, 80k, 200k etc.

On a boxing card, mayweather makes 40 or 50 mil, most of the undercard makes 500 bucks. And these fights are on ESPN.

ESPN are bitter and this is clearly an attempt to damage the UFC. As mentioned above you should get paid as a direct proportion of your productivity/skills etc. just like every other job.

Leo Dowling

Have to agree to an extent. When they release the details of fighter pay and you see that the guys lower down the card are getting 4K or 5K whereas the ones at the top of the card are getting the guts of a million it doesn't look right. I imagine these fighters giving up three months to train for their big UFC fight and really having to scrape by while doing it. I know they get some sponsership too but 5-10K isn't a lot for three months work considering they have to pay trainers, gyms, and all that goes with it.

I'm not too sure about ESPN being bitter. Apart from the MMA Live show I don't think they had much involvement with UFC anyways apart from the European tv deal which is very small fries in the overall picture.

Richy06

Pretty good analysis of the article that is fairly realistic in it's conclusions!

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/1/13/2704598/ufc-pay-a-closer-look-at-espns-story

DrPhilG

I think fighterdiscontent with pay will have been much reduced by the UFC's introduction of medical insurance. For these $6k a fight guys a late injury was a disaster, now they're covered.

Morning Wood

When most people discuss fighter's pay, they usually haven't got a clue. Some people are so dumb, they even use the Athletic Commission's published numbers as what a fighter actually got paid, despite all of the undisclosed bonuses we don't know about.

Here is Dave Metzler's take on it - one of the few people who has a clue:

ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” will be doing a piece on 1/15 (Sunday) at 10 a.m. Eastern on ESPN 2 on the pay scale of UFC fighters. Reporter John Barr asked Lorenzo Fertitta if UFC pays fighters 50% of total revenues, similar to what athletes in the four major sports get, and not the 10% numerous sources told Outside the Lines that the athletes get. “In that neighborhood, yeah, in that neighborhood.”

The problem is, because of bonuses that we don’t know, when it comes to PPVs, it’s impossible to even make an estimate. But the estimates people make of 10% using base pay are ridiculous, because the headliners make so much more than base pay that it isn’t funny, and with very few exceptions, every fighter appearing on a PPV card gets bonused something, even if it’s $5,000.

In addition, when it comes to a TV shoot, some of those shows are loss leaders. I don’t know what UFC’s deal with Showtime is, but Strikeforce was getting around $750,000 (more would be kicked in if someone like Fedor was involved, but on Fedor vs. Henderson, UFC lost significant money because of both men’s huge salaries), and the payroll was $566,000. Now there is also a gate, not yet released, but tickets weren’t moving much in Las Vegas. Not sure what the casino may have paid for the show, but the point is, this was not a $5.6 million show in revenue and the pay was a lot more than 10%. For the 12/30 show (UFC 141), if we go with the idea of 800,000 buys, then Zuffa took in about $18 million from its share of PPV and $3.1 million in gate, or in the range of $21 million. Of that, we know the undercard fighters took in $851,000, and we can very conservatively figure another $150,000 in undisclosed bonuses, so that’s $1 million. We also know from the lawsuit that with that level of a buy rate, that Overeem got about $2.27 million and let’s be conservative and say Lesnar got $2.5 million, so it’s $5.8 million out of $21 million, or 28%. That’s double the 15% that WWE pays talent, also way above the 10% that so many write and claim UFC pays by disingenuously acting as if the money in the original base purses is all that is paid. But it is likely far less than 50%.

Source: www.wrestlingobserver.com

Mellor

Leo Dowling wrote: »

Have to agree to an extent. When they release the details of fighter pay and you see that the guys lower down the card are getting 4K or 5K whereas the ones at the top of the card are getting the guts of a million it doesn't look right. I imagine these fighters giving up three months to train for their big UFC fight and really having to scrape by while doing it. I know they get some sponsership too but 5-10K isn't a lot for three months work considering they have to pay trainers, gyms, and all that goes

It's purely down to the revenue they generate. Which is very little for the prelim card.
And don't fool yourself into thinking that they are living off that money. Sponsorship is significant.

I love the way when people complain about UFC salaries they never provide pinpoint of reference, such as pre-zuffa strike force, or boxing. And they also ignore fight bonuses and the UFC insurance, which is pretty massive.

MrStuffins

TO add a small point here, I have no idea why people would be complaining that the top guys get paid more than the guys at the bottom of the card. That's how life works!

If i'm Lionel Messi, do you think the lads in the reserves are getting paid the same as me? Are they fook!

Morning Wood

MrStuffins wrote: »

I have no idea why people would be complaining that the top guys get paid more than the guys at the bottom of the card.

Nobody is complaining about that. They're complaining about the ratio of fighters pay to total Zuffa revenue. Most of the idiots are saying the fighters only get 10% of total revenue that Zuffa generate (by using the basic figures released by the commissions), when it's closer to 30%. NFL, Boxing, etc, get more like 50%.
So they have a point about it not being as high as other major sports, but anyone using 10% in their argument is an idiot who can't do basic research.

But nobody is saying the undercard fighters should get as much as the top guys. Nobody even suggested that.

Mr. Loverman

UFC are entitled to pay whatever they want, just like the fighters are entitled to pursue a different career; no one is forcing anyone to become a fighter.

MrStuffins

Morning Wood wrote: »

Nobody is complaining about that. They're complaining about the ratio of fighters pay to total Zuffa revenue. Most of the idiots are saying the fighters only get 10% of total revenue that Zuffa generate (by using the basic figures released by the commissions), when it's closer to 30%. NFL, Boxing, etc, get more like 50%.
So they have a point about it not being as high as other major sports, but anyone using 10% in their argument is an idiot who can't do basic research.

But nobody is saying the undercard fighters should get as much as the top guys. Nobody even suggested that.

Leo Dowling wrote: »

Have to agree to an extent. When they release the details of fighter pay and you see that the guys lower down the card are getting 4K or 5K whereas the ones at the top of the card are getting the guts of a million it doesn't look right. I imagine these fighters giving up three months to train for their big UFC fight and really having to scrape by while doing it. I know they get some sponsership too but 5-10K isn't a lot for three months work considering they have to pay trainers, gyms, and all that goes with it.

Morning Wood

MrStuffins wrote: »

I assumed you were talking about MMA journalists; not some dude called Leo ITT. Apologies. But he still wasn't complaining that "the top guys get paid more than the guys at the bottom" - he meant the gap is too big between the two.

MrStuffins

Morning Wood wrote: »

I assumed you were talking about MMA journalists; not some dude called Leo ITT. Apologies. But he still wasn't complaining that "the top guys get paid more than the guys at the bottom" - he meant the gap is too big between the two.

Big gap? Yes.

Too big? Not in my opinion. Thats how the world works.

Again, Messi gets paid many many times the amount of your average reserve team footballer. And rightfully so!

Morning Wood

MrStuffins wrote: »

Big gap? Yes.

Too big? Not in my opinion. Thats how the world works.

I didn't say it was too big a gap - Leo did. I pointed out that he didn't say they should make the same amount, which you implied he was saying.

El Guapo!

Here's a link to the video in question.....

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/1/15/2709125/espn-ufc-video-fighter-pay-outside-the-lines-otl-lorenzo-fertitta-ken-shamrock

rabbitinlights

New UFC Video on pay

Logical Fallacy

Morning Wood wrote: »

Nobody is complaining about that. They're complaining about the ratio of fighters pay to total Zuffa revenue. Most of the idiots are saying the fighters only get 10% of total revenue that Zuffa generate (by using the basic figures released by the commissions), when it's closer to 30%. NFL, Boxing, etc, get more like 50%.
So they have a point about it not being as high as other major sports, but anyone using 10% in their argument is an idiot who can't do basic research.

But nobody is saying the undercard fighters should get as much as the top guys. Nobody even suggested that.

30% isn't bad considering NFL can do 50% and they don't exactly have huge expansion costs or anything like that.

I'd be interested to see the % that Zuffa reinvest into the sport, because i reckon it is substantial.

MrStuffins

This whole thing is just mind boggling. It seems like it's just a story for the sake of a story. Monopolies andunder-paid fighters and reinvestment....... it's all so much bullsh*t!

Anyway, just reading the Bloody Elbow article and there's a hilarious quote:

Ley asked Rodriguez about his past dealings with White to which Rodriguez said that his conflicts about pay with White are a major reason he's not in the UFC.

Nothing to do with you being a massive (and I mean massive) has-been who has won 1 of your last 5 fights against below par opposition?

He talked about having to fight in other countries and organizations to make money

Well isn't that your job? DO you think GB Boxers complain when they fight in Vegas?

Also, Ken Shamrock as their source and another fighter who won't reveal his name? Come on!

Mr. Loverman

Big Baby Fighter wrote:

Boo hoo hoo, I chose a job which doesn't pay very well, and now I'm not being paid very well! I know I know if I was one of the top guys I would get lots of money, but I'm not good enough to be one of the top guys so I'm going to blame everyone else for my bad career choice and lack of talent.

Bah!

JacksonHeightsOwn

is there any links going round to watch the full episode lads?

MrStuffins

Dana Responds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7neKshmjzI

El Guapo!

It just goes to show you how ESPN can twist things around with a little bit of editing.
A lot of people are saying that Dana White and the UFC over-reacted to the ESPN piece, but I think they reacted perfectly. They have every right to defend themselves against bad, incorrect, and potentially damaging media coverage.
ESPN were looking to make a story out of nothing. They're losing the UFC contract anyway so they tried to dirty the name of the UFC. I'm delighted they came back with that video and played the part about fighter bonuses and additional income they make from fighting.

Dana also posted the link to the full un-edited video so people can make their own mind up. It's un-edited by either side so there's no bias at all and it's the interview in full.

Here it is for anybody who wants to watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck0Lb8pDmVg

pauldoo

that ESPN show is a joke;

In summary;

Your a low level fighter who wins his first 3 fights, you get 48k a year
Your top of the food chain you make millions


Substitute UFC for Boxing, Music Industry, Football, acting, what ever large industry you want. The say entry level guys earn more in football & hockey but a lot more people watch football and hockey. Looks like ESPN out to get UFC, you can spin what fertitta said a couple of ways, same goes for the manager, as for shamrock, its no coincidence that he was cut and had a court case against the UFC to get one more fight

SevereMMA

I do think that ESPN are wrong here and that the UFC is the best thing that will ever happen to MMA but of course they are not perfect, if you piss Dana White off, it can cost you your chance to fight against the very top fighters, and unless you can make fans call and nag for your return

I doubt the UFC would do this these days but poor Jon Fitch, things could have really went to the other way for him if TUF and the UFC didnt work out so well

the_doctor199

Sean McCorkle speaks..

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.

MrStuffins

Another good write up about fighter pay here

For three of the UFC's rank and file, the bottom line rarely ends at "show" and "win."

Sponsorships, performance bonuses, and discretionary bonuses help to line the pockets of George Roop, Jacob Volkmann and Nam Phan.

They are not millionaires. But despite a wide disparity in pay with their headliner counterparts, figures disclosed by the fighters painted an upper-middle-class living.

Pay-per-view dollars are, for now, a faraway dream that Roop, Volkmann and Phan hope to realize. They have won and lost and are no strangers to the preliminary card. They draw hardcore interest but are known by a casual few.

Featherweight Roop, a veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter 8," has fought nine times in the now-defunct WEC and UFC and carries a record of 3-5-1 under the Zuffa-owned promotions. Lightweight Volkmann signed with the promotion in 2009 and has fought seven times in the UFC, where he's amassed a 5-2 record including five consecutive wins inside the octagon. Phan, a veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter 12," has fought four times in the UFC as a featherweight and carries a 1-3 record.

Thirty-nine millionaires have been created by the promotion, according to UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta, who defended his company's pay structure in a controversial segment aired on Sunday for ESPN's "Outside the Lines." Responding to charges that top stars are compensated handsomely while lower-tier fighters risk life and limb for as low as $6,000 a fight, he said the company shares around 50 percent of its revenue with athletes under contract.

Roop, Volkmann and Phan's guaranteed pay leans toward the lower end of what fighters make in the promotion.

But they're not struggling.

The pay

Roop plainly said it was nobody's business how much money he makes. But he also wanted to make it plainly known that he feels well-compensated.

"I just bought a house, and you have to remember, I'm on the lower echelon," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)

Roop said he made $6,000 for his first fight of 2011, which took place in January at "UFC Fight Night 23: UFC Fights for the Troops 2." He got knocked out in 88 seconds by onetime training partner Mark Hominick, who went on to challenge current featherweight champ Jose Aldo for the title.

Roop, who negotiated a multi-fight contract with the WEC that carried over to the UFC, would have made another $6,000 in guaranteed pay had he won the main-card fight. But as it turned out, he was afterward given a $6,000 discretionary bonus. He also took home an additional $20,000 in pay from sponsors after a 15 percent deduction from a manager who helps him secure such support.

As Fertitta explained to ESPN, discretionary bonuses put extra pay in a fighter's pocket for a particularly good performance. They are not disclosed to state athletic commissions. Performance bonuses are publicly handed out following an event and include "Fight of the Night," "Submission of the Night" and Knockout of the Night." Depending on the fighter and the event, these payouts, which are part of a UFC fighter's taxable income, can dwarf his guaranteed pay.

At The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale event, Roop made another $6,000 to show on the event's preliminary card. But after landing a vicious body punch to Josh Grispi, he earned a $6,000 win bonus, as well as a discretionary bonus he said was "$6,000 or $8,000." Because the fight later aired on Spike TV, he received a pay bump in sponsors that totaled just under $20,000 after his manager's deduction. (Televised fights traditionally fetch higher sponsorship fees because they carry a wider audience than preliminary-card fights. Roop said he's guaranteed higher pay in the event that his bout is broadcast.)

At this past October's UFC 137 event, Roop's pay jumped to a guaranteed $8,000 as the result of his previous win, though he was denied an $8,000 win bonus when he lost a split decision to Hatsu Hioki. Nevertheless, he was paid a "$5,000 or $6,000" discretionary bonus, and picked up an additional $19,000 from sponsors.

In all, Roop estimates he made around $100,000 before taxes from fighting in the UFC this past year. Although he was victorious in just one of three bouts, all were action-packed.

Volkmann, who gave an interview while ice fishing in White Bear Lake, Minn., is reaping the benefits of the pyramid structure typical to UFC contracts in fights this year. He banked $32,000 ($16,000 to show and $16,000 to win) in his most recent fight – a unanimous-decision win over Efrain Escudero at UFC 141 – that amounted to a 22 percent increase from his previous check of $28,000 ($14,000 to show/win), which he earned by outpointing Danny Castillo at UFC on Versus 5. And the payout was a 17 percent increase from the $24,000 ($12,000 to show/win) he earned with a decision win over Antonio McKee at UFC 125.

Twenty percent of Volkmann's show and win purses went to his manager, and he paid his gym $1,000 in gym and training fees.

For UFC 125, he took home a $3,000 discretionary bonus. But that more than doubled at UFC on Versus 5, where he was paid an additional $7,000. He awaits his check from UFC 141.

At the moment, sponsor pay lags. Volkmann, who has fought on preliminary-card bouts in five of seven UFC appearances, said he received $1,500 for UFC 125, $1200 for UFC on Versus 5, and $2,000 for UFC 141. He receives no pay for wearing patches representing his gym and the National Guard, as they don't officially sponsor him.

"Sometimes I'll get a bar, but they only give 250 bucks," he said.

Volkmann, who also runs a chiropractic business and coaches part-time for a high school wrestling team (he is currently on administrative leave), estimates he took home between $60,000 and $65,000 before taxes in 2011.

Phan declined to disclose the discretionary bonuses he earned this past year, though he said they were "always generous." As part of the cast for "The Ultimate Fighter 12," he directly negotiated a deal that gave him a guaranteed $8,000 to show and $8,000 to win for each of his fights. He won one out of his three, though a performance bonus for his fight with Leonard Garcia at UFC 136 put an additional $75,000 in his pocket for "Fight of the Night."

Sponsor-wise, Phan estimates he made between $19,000 and $21,000 this past year.

"I've fought with a lot of other organizations," Phan said. "They pay horrible. They make you sell tickets. UFC is such a huge difference.

"I fought boxing, and I got like a thousand bucks. It was crap. Six-thousand dollars is great!"

The cost

There is constant injury and the monastic life required to compete at the sport's highest levels, but it's also not cheap to be a fighter. Equipment, travel, food, supplements, licensing, and medical insurance are the primary costs associated with the job, the fighters said.

Roop and Volkmann fly additional cornermen to fights and pay for the licensing fees required by state athletic commissions (The UFC covers the cost of one cornerman per fight). Roop gives the UFC's $50 per diem to his team during fight week, as he's cutting weight and isn't eating much. Phan's cornermen fly themselves to his fights and pay their own fees. All pile their teams into the one hotel room covered by the promotion.

"I'm being resourceful and saving up so I have money, so when my future coffeeshop-girl wife tries to divorce me, I can get half," Phan joked.

Volkmann estimates he spends $250 a week on gas getting to and from his gym, Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. He also spends approximately $500 a year on equipment.

All fighters incurred negligible supplement costs due to sponsorships. Food ate up $500 of Phan's monthly budget, and as a gym owner, he paid $2,250 per month to rent the facility.

The costs of keeping up to date the medical paperwork required by commissions ranged from $150 to $400 yearly.

But as Roop noted, many of the expenses he incurred were tax write-offs, and with the UFC's help, he was able to create a limited liability company in his name that helped him save money at the end of the year.

He also said he profited from appearance requests. A trip to a local Hooters to watch a UFC event netted him $2,000. Additionally, he was able to raise his rate for private MMA lessons to $70 per hour.

Of course, these figures are self-reported and are unlikely to represent the total costs and benefits the fighters incur on a yearly basis. Unnamed fighters quoted by ESPN said they were "fighting for crumbs" and "couldn't make ends meet" if they made $10,000 a fight and fought twice a year. One said training expenses ran $22,000 per year before travel costs were added.

Roop fought three times this past year and has greatly benefitted as the result of his busy schedule. That might not be the case if things slowed. But regardless, he said the UFC's annual fighter summit helped instill a sense of thrift.

Each year, Zuffa flies its contracted athletes to a multi-day conference that addresses the ins and outs of working for the promotion, marketing, drug abuse, and financial planning.

"It's not about how much you earn," Roop said. "It's about how much you keep."

The split

Although widely estimated to be worth in excess of one billion dollars, the UFC's yearly revenue is unknown, and Fertitta, who along with brother Frank Fertitta Jr. owns a majority stake in the privately-held Zuffa, won't reveal an exact figure. Moreover, he declined to reveal amounts given to fighters as discretionary bonuses on the basis that it would cause more complications in their lives.

Fertitta said comparisons with other major sports leagues don't work when gauging Zuffa's generosity to its fighters. He said that unlike the company's major league counterparts, significant costs in marketing, production, and staffing are paid by the company. Despite that, fighter pay has grown a twice the rate of the revenue growth.

Nevertheless, Zuffa could be forced to defend its position to the government. Fertitta said it was his understanding that an investigation launched this past year by the Federal Trade Commission stemmed from Zuffa's purchase of rival promotion Strikeforce.

In a video rebuttal to the ESPN report, upper-echelon fighters interviewed by the UFC staunchly defended the promotion's pay practices. But even for those who didn't enjoy a share of pay-per-view dollars or backstage million-dollar bonuses, the bottom line looked good, particularly when fights were frequent. And when weighed against the alternatives, there seemed no comparison.

"Do I wish that I could make a million dollars? Of course," Roop said. "But I understand that you have to work your way up. I think it's about how much hard work you put in, and how you perform."

Ian Whelan

If they are not happy then the UFC fighters should form a union, it would be the simplest way around it and it would be interesting to watch the UFC doing everything in the book to destroy it.

MrStuffins

Ian Whelan wrote: »

If they are not happy then the UFC fighters should form a union, it would be the simplest way around it and it would be interesting to watch the UFC doing everything in the book to destroy it.

Well, who might be a UFC fighter this week won't be next week.

The only constants are the top lads and the top lads are getting paid well and are happy.

I'm pretty sure the ones on the bottom rung of the ladder are delighted to be getting $8k a fight, because I doubt they're getting anywhere near that elsewhere.

Mellor

Ian Whelan wrote: »

If they are not happy then the UFC fighters should form a union, it would be the simplest way around it and it would be interesting to watch the UFC doing everything in the book to destroy it.

Which fighters have said they aren't happy?
The complaints come of journalists, ESPN, and people on forums who don't know much.

Take Roop as an example. He could easily be used an an example of a guy who isn't paid enough. 1-2 for the year. He made $26k in fight fees for 2011.
how many time have this been mentioned, and every time people ignore the the undisclosed bonuses, and sponsorship money. Bumping Roop up to 100k. Not bad for three lower rung fights.