Eduardo Jimenez
Instructor Josh Olivier
English 125
11 April 2023
Why The UFC NEEDS To Pay Its Athletes More
The UFC NEEDS to pay its athletes more. But hold up—let's rewind a little to give more context.
Mixed-Martial Arts, or MMA, has quickly become one of the fastest-growing sports over the past two decades, led mainly by the biggest and most talented MMA organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or the UFC. With household names such as Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, and Khabib Nurmagomedov emerging from the sport and iconic moments like when Leon Edwards knocked out then-welterweight champion and future Hall of Famer Kamaru Usman, it is clear that the UFC has cemented itself within mainstream sports culture.
Despite this massive growth
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According to Forbes, the UFC has maintained a 19-20% wage share for over eleven straight years, from 2005 to 2017. Within this same period, the UFC saw its revenue more than triple from $226 million in 2007 to $750 million in 2017. Despite a massive increase in revenue and overall growth of the sport, the organization failed to adjust wage percentage share significantly, opting to pocket the profit without considering the fighter's salaries. And since 2017, the UFC has seen its revenue increase to over a billion dollars. So while yes, fighters are earning more money today versus in 2007, for example, this is because of an increase in revenue rather than an effort by the UFC to increase fighter pay. This failure to substantially increase revenue share with the fighters is plain disrespectful. Without its roster of fighters, the UFC would not exist. The UFC and the fighters need each other to thrive. Despite the massive value these fighters provide for the organization, they are heavily undervalued. These warriors fight for potentially millions of others to watch, risking their health in the process for our entertainment. Fighters deserve to be respected more, which should be reflected in their …show more content…
The average fighter is paid based on four main factors: showing up to the fight, a winning bonus, the Reebok deal, and a potential bonus for the fight of the night or performance of the night. Champions and PPV stars, however, do earn a cut from PPV sales. The base pay for a new fighter is $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win. The Reebok deal, an exclusive sponsorship deal with the UFC, adds anywhere between $5,000 to $40,000, a deal in which the fighter will earn more money the more times they compete in the organization. However, the two best tiers, the $30,000 and $40,000, are exclusively reserved for challengers of a title and the reigning champion. And as I mentioned, the fighters have the potential to earn a bonus for the fight of the night or performance of the night in which a fighter, at the night's end, will be chosen by Dana White, the president of the UFC, and his team. There are four potential fighters who will earn this bonus, each of which will receive $50,000.
The UFC's pay structure clearly focuses on the performance of the fighter and their overall star power. And while I would agree with the UFC that fighters who put on impressive performances or are a big draw should be granted more money than a fighter who is lesser known and didn't put in the most outstanding performance, I think the base pay, along with the Reebok deal pay, is far too low. When you put as much on the line as a UFC fighter