For those of you who don't know, ESPN has published an article, and will launch an investigative report of fighter pay in the UFC. It's no shock really, there have always been complaints about the UFC not properly compensating it's fighters. Dana and the UFC have been very adamant in regards to these complaints saying nearly every fighter receives undisclosed locker room bonuses which fully compensate them. Dana has also told people they have no idea of what goes on behind closed doors in regard to fighter salary and to be honest, none of us do. We have no idea what the fighters are paid, but ESPN feels it's not enough. I happen to feel the exact opposite of ESPN and will give my complete thoughts on fighter pay, ESPN's article, and the "monopoly" they accuse the UFC of being.
Let's look at fighter pay, much like every sport in the world, the best fighters in the UFC make the most money. Brock Lesnar made over $800,000 for each of his appearances, GSP has reported he makes around four million a fight, Anderson Silva is speculated to make heaps of money, and Jon Jones bought a brand new Mercedes after winning he Light Heavyweight title. Obviously, these are guys who are at the top of MMA food chain and deserve to make that kind of money for the performances they put on. They sell, it's as simple as that. People don't pay to see Mike Russow(no offense, just popped into my head) they pay to see the biggest and best stars. Since these fighters make Zuffa money, they deserve to be compensated. Obviously, these articles aren't popping up denying this, but you cannot overlook this fact.
The article on ESPN talks about the amount of money the fighters on the undercard make. Truth is, we have no idea what these fighters make, we only know the reported payout released by the Athletic Commission. Other than that, all we have is the word of Dana that these fighters are properly paid and honestly, why shouldn't we believe him? If pay was as atrocious as the article makes it out to be, wouldn't undercard fighters be causing an absolute uproar? Wouldn't they leave to go fight in Japan, or Bellator? Obviously, there is something the public doesn't know about fighter salaries. Am I saying every fighter, no matter his record or spot on cards is rich? Of course not, but to act as if they are living inside their gym with no money for food is pretty stupid. Some may work regular jobs on top of training and fighting, but no fighter in the UFC is absolutely desperate for money.
Now, onto my favorite part of this post, my thoughts on ESPN. Now much like every other man in this country, I loved ESPN. I watched Sportscenter every day after work, and sung ESPN's praises up until this report came out. The fact that this company would reduce themselves to airing a program where they edit out every single counter-argument made against them and use a man like Ken Shamrock, who hates Zuffa and owes them money after losing a law suit against them is despicable. Another tatic they use is, they post a "quote" from a fighter who supposedly is a UFC veteran and fan favorite talking about making absolutly no money, and instead of using his name, they say he'd rather be kept anonomyus due to the reprocussions from Zuffa. They show no proof that these quotes are valid and the only reason they do this is to trick the readers into believeing their side of the story. We get it, ESPN hates MMA. They never showed any interest in covering the sport, but why go to such lengths to degrade the UFC and MMA in general? Why can't they just shut the hell up and ignore the sport? I don't have an answer to that question, but i;d sure like to know.
While we're on that topic, why doesn't ESPN investigate Boxing where a fighter on the undercard of an HBO show makes even less than the lowest paid fighter in the UFC? Why don't they investigate the Pac/JMM fight where JMM was robbed? Or the controversy surrounding Amir Khan's last fight? I do have an answer to those questions, and it's because ESPN shows clear favoritism to Boxing. They enjoy covering the sport and wouldn't sabotage the relationship between them and the promoters. God forbid they took a stance against the wrong doings of every sport instead of just MMA. It's complete bullshit, and totally takes away all of ESPN's credibility.
The UFC is not perfect, far from it in fact, but the same can be said for every company in the world. The fact is, the UFC has only been turning a profit for about five years and is still a very new sport. A sport like Boxing has been around for hundreds of years and still underpays fighters. Only reason that isn't brought to attention is because Mayweather and Pac both make such mind boggling money that it shadows the other fighters. I loved ESPN, but after their tactics and disgraceful journalism, they have lost all of my respect. What's sad is, for a person who isn't a hardcore MMA fan, they will read the ESPN article and believe it word for word, simply because it is ESPN. It really is a travesty.
Shortened the post up and left out my thoughts on the UFC being a monopoly
Let's look at fighter pay, much like every sport in the world, the best fighters in the UFC make the most money. Brock Lesnar made over $800,000 for each of his appearances, GSP has reported he makes around four million a fight, Anderson Silva is speculated to make heaps of money, and Jon Jones bought a brand new Mercedes after winning he Light Heavyweight title. Obviously, these are guys who are at the top of MMA food chain and deserve to make that kind of money for the performances they put on. They sell, it's as simple as that. People don't pay to see Mike Russow(no offense, just popped into my head) they pay to see the biggest and best stars. Since these fighters make Zuffa money, they deserve to be compensated. Obviously, these articles aren't popping up denying this, but you cannot overlook this fact.
The article on ESPN talks about the amount of money the fighters on the undercard make. Truth is, we have no idea what these fighters make, we only know the reported payout released by the Athletic Commission. Other than that, all we have is the word of Dana that these fighters are properly paid and honestly, why shouldn't we believe him? If pay was as atrocious as the article makes it out to be, wouldn't undercard fighters be causing an absolute uproar? Wouldn't they leave to go fight in Japan, or Bellator? Obviously, there is something the public doesn't know about fighter salaries. Am I saying every fighter, no matter his record or spot on cards is rich? Of course not, but to act as if they are living inside their gym with no money for food is pretty stupid. Some may work regular jobs on top of training and fighting, but no fighter in the UFC is absolutely desperate for money.
Now, onto my favorite part of this post, my thoughts on ESPN. Now much like every other man in this country, I loved ESPN. I watched Sportscenter every day after work, and sung ESPN's praises up until this report came out. The fact that this company would reduce themselves to airing a program where they edit out every single counter-argument made against them and use a man like Ken Shamrock, who hates Zuffa and owes them money after losing a law suit against them is despicable. Another tatic they use is, they post a "quote" from a fighter who supposedly is a UFC veteran and fan favorite talking about making absolutly no money, and instead of using his name, they say he'd rather be kept anonomyus due to the reprocussions from Zuffa. They show no proof that these quotes are valid and the only reason they do this is to trick the readers into believeing their side of the story. We get it, ESPN hates MMA. They never showed any interest in covering the sport, but why go to such lengths to degrade the UFC and MMA in general? Why can't they just shut the hell up and ignore the sport? I don't have an answer to that question, but i;d sure like to know.
While we're on that topic, why doesn't ESPN investigate Boxing where a fighter on the undercard of an HBO show makes even less than the lowest paid fighter in the UFC? Why don't they investigate the Pac/JMM fight where JMM was robbed? Or the controversy surrounding Amir Khan's last fight? I do have an answer to those questions, and it's because ESPN shows clear favoritism to Boxing. They enjoy covering the sport and wouldn't sabotage the relationship between them and the promoters. God forbid they took a stance against the wrong doings of every sport instead of just MMA. It's complete bullshit, and totally takes away all of ESPN's credibility.
The UFC is not perfect, far from it in fact, but the same can be said for every company in the world. The fact is, the UFC has only been turning a profit for about five years and is still a very new sport. A sport like Boxing has been around for hundreds of years and still underpays fighters. Only reason that isn't brought to attention is because Mayweather and Pac both make such mind boggling money that it shadows the other fighters. I loved ESPN, but after their tactics and disgraceful journalism, they have lost all of my respect. What's sad is, for a person who isn't a hardcore MMA fan, they will read the ESPN article and believe it word for word, simply because it is ESPN. It really is a travesty.
Shortened the post up and left out my thoughts on the UFC being a monopoly
