Why Does UFC Pay So Low?

[rickj82]

UFC is the fastest growing sport and gets all kinds of viewers, so it makes a ton of money. Yet they have 1 million dollar payrolls. They reel in I'd say around 6-10 million in profit. This being said what is up with Dana White? Their stars get around 250k tops maybe a bit higher and anyone who's not a star gets around 5-50k. Now whats up with the terrible salaries? Look at boxing. ESPN Friday night fights, the fighters in the main event get paid 15-30k. HBO opening fighters on a 2 fight card are getting 6 figures. Now on a PPV 4 fight card. Opening card guys get lets say 50k. Netx fight around the 100-150k range then Co main event is making between 250k and even close to a Million, then main event fighters are pulling in 1 million plus. Why such a disparity? Oscar De La Hoya could pay 50 UFC Payrolls.

[cowboyronnie]

Agreed. It's shocking.

White always points to Bodog and the IFL as examples of how MMA is still a very tenuous business; he's paying them all he can while remaining financially responsible. I'm pretty sure he's a sociopath.

Sherk got, I think, $40,000 for headlining against Penn - Jardine $15,000 against Wanderlei.

There's also White's insistence that he finds other ways to pay the fighters - he won't disclose how, and I know of people who've fought in the UFC and never received a thing beyond what was declared.

[rickj82]

I read Paul Williams got around 900k in the first fight with Quintana. Boxers would laugh at what ufc gets if they were to have the same salaries

[Blame Rasho]

MMA fighters are significantly underpaid given how much money they bring in.

[Blame Rasho]

Think about this... Joel Casamayor turned down a payday of $610,000 dollars vs Nate Campbell(WCB most likely) to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on HBO PPV for more than million dollars. You compare that Sherk and you have to question why UFC pays so little.

Code: Select all

It didn't come as a great surprise, and it is hard to blame Casamayor for turning down the $610,000 he would have made fighting Nate Campbell under the terms of Don King's purse bid and instead accepting a more lucrative HBO PPV fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, who is moving up in weight.
Next: Sept. 13 vs. Marquez.

[Cammo101]

UFC fighters make substantially more than the published amount. They make a ton of bonuses and Dana White and UFC given them a lot of money under the table. So, when a guy like Sherk makes 40,000 published, he is really probably making closer to 100 to 150 grand.

That said, UFC does need to step up and pay their fighters more money. But, the reason boxers make more is because the UFC has name value and will sell PPV's regardless of the fighters, where as boxing has nothing like that, so the fighters are the selling point.

[Headliner]

He is literally following the Vince Mcmahon route of how to run a business.
He understands that these people have no other options then what he is presenting them, and the pay he decides, along with the exposure that he gives him is enough to get them to agree to perform.

Just like in wrestling, they could go to Japan or somewhere and make decent pay, but without the exposure that he provides and the arenas to get over in, you don't become a 'brand' which ultimately increases your pay.
Dana White, just like Vince, has no real viable competition. Once another viable MMA organization is established then the pays will increase, dramatically, just like what occurred when WCW became established and wrestling salaries pretty much doubled.

[Blame Rasho]

UFC fighters make substantially more than the published amount. They make a ton of bonuses and Dana White and UFC given them a lot of money under the table. So, when a guy like Sherk makes 40,000 published, he is really probably making closer to 100 to 150 grand.

I kinda doubt your figures but even if what you say is true... 150 grand is a pathetic figure for a guy like Sherk.

[jTF2]

This is business 101. UFC has a large % of the market share in terms of exposure and they don't need to pay their fighters as much. All the fighters on their roster have choices but in the end its beneficial for them to stay in the UFC for lower pay, greater exposure and the chance to make it big. Nothing is going to change for the forseen future because no other promotion has shown the ability to be as dominant or exciting as the UFC. Pay rates will continue to climb of course but very slowly unless you see a clear #2 choice out there who has the ability to outpay/equalize UFC's offers to their fighters. At this moment, there isn't.

[rickj82]

UFC fighters make substantially more than the published amount. They make a ton of bonuses and Dana White and UFC given them a lot of money under the table. So, when a guy like Sherk makes 40,000 published, he is really probably making closer to 100 to 150 grand.

That said, UFC does need to step up and pay their fighters more money. But, the reason boxers make more is because the UFC has name value and will sell PPV's regardless of the fighters, where as boxing has nothing like that, so the fighters are the selling point.

This was my next point. UFC does not promote fighters. They just promote fight cards. When you here UFC 90 for example in a commercial its fighter a vs fighter b, along with fighter c vs fighter d and so and so will also be on the card. Where in boxing its So and So Vs So and So, and thats all you here, you dont know about the undercard unless you do your own research or wait till the telecast to find out.

[Blame Rasho]

The only way I see UFC fighters getting a bigger purses is if they would fight on Showtime like the way that boxing is a fixture on HBO, but one of the biggest appeals is that UFC can be seen on non premium television.

[CPT]

Because they can.

[Cammo101]

If these fighters could make more away from the UFC they would. A ton of guys have tried and almost all have failed. UFC is the only organization that makes these guys relivant and marketable. Sure, a guy like Lindland can make a little more fighting somewhere else, but he loses a ton in sponsors because the average fan has no idea who he is. The fact that more people know Nathan Diaz than Matt Lindland speaks to why the UFC can lowball fighters.

Unless you are a guy like Liddell or Fedor, where your a big enough star that you can sell a PPV on your own, you need to stay where the fanbase is. And that is the UFC.

If a guy like Tiger Woods could make more money playing in Indonesia, he wouldn't do it, because what he would make would pale in comparison to what he would lose in sponsorship money.

[cowboyronnie]

everyone realizes that ^

[Cammo101]

everyone realizes that ^

Apparently not, or else threads like this would not pop up everywhere.

[CPT]

If these fighters could make more away from the UFC they would. A ton of guys have tried and almost all have failed. UFC is the only organization that makes these guys relivant and marketable. Sure, a guy like Lindland can make a little more fighting somewhere else, but he loses a ton in sponsors because the average fan has no idea who he is. The fact that more people know Nathan Diaz than Matt Lindland speaks to why the UFC can lowball fighters.

Unless you are a guy like Liddell or Fedor, where your a big enough star that you can sell a PPV on your own, you need to stay where the fanbase is. And that is the UFC.

If a guy like Tiger Woods could make more money playing in Indonesia, he wouldn't do it, because what he would make would pale in comparison to what he would lose in sponsorship money.

Fedor is not in Liddell's league marketing wise. How many PPV buys did that Bodog show do? 14,000 or something? We'll see what happens with Affliction, but I doubt it will be pretty.

Hell, even if Chuck Liddell was fighting on an Affliction or EliteXC show and the UFC went head to head with them, I think the UFC would come out on top there too.

Maybe that's the problem. There aren't any guys who can sell the sport on their own, and that might be just because of how MMA plays out. A guy like Liddell can be the biggest star in the world, but then he loses two fights in a row, and his drawing power takes a huge hit. The same could happen to anyone, which may prevent MMA from ever having a true superstar.

[Blame Rasho]

14,000 PPV buys is shocking low for any PPV event... I am not even sure if they can break even doing events like that.

Think about this, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr... just a prospect compared to other boxers is getting around 70,000 PPV buys regularly on the Arum backed Latin Fury PPV cards... How many MMA fighters can do that for basically a showcase fight? The UCF can sell cards that get big buyrates but there isn't one fighter in MMA who is really a transcendent superstar. There has always been several for boxing(Ali,Sugar Ray,Tyson,DeLaHoya and,Mayweather,) but I can't say that for MMA.

There aren't any guys who can sell the sport on their own, and that might be just because of how MMA plays out. A guy like Liddell can be the biggest star in the world, but then he loses two fights in a row, and his drawing power takes a huge hit. The same could happen to anyone, which may prevent MMA from ever having a true superstar

Exactly... Oscar has lost 3 out of his last 6 fights, but his still has the biggest drawing power in all sports when it comes to PPV buys.

[Blame Rasho]

Lastest numbers...

Griffin made a purse of $250,000, including a $100,000 win bonus. Jackson collected $225,000. The purses do not necessarily contain other bonuses included in fighter contracts.

Just compare that to David Diaz who made 850,000 plus a percentage of the PPV buys. Pacman made close to 4.5 million plus a bigger percentage of the PPV buys.

[Blame Rasho]

Cotto earned a guarantee of $3 million but with his share of the pay-per-view returns, Arum said he likely made $7 million on Saturday for taking a frightful beating. Margarito made a guarantee of $1.5 million “and a whole lot more on pay-per-view,” Arum said.

[RalphWiggum]

If these fighters could make more away from the UFC they would. A ton of guys have tried and almost all have failed. UFC is the only organization that makes these guys relivant and marketable. Sure, a guy like Lindland can make a little more fighting somewhere else, but he loses a ton in sponsors because the average fan has no idea who he is. The fact that more people know Nathan Diaz than Matt Lindland speaks to why the UFC can lowball fighters.

Unless you are a guy like Liddell or Fedor, where your a big enough star that you can sell a PPV on your own, you need to stay where the fanbase is. And that is the UFC.

If a guy like Tiger Woods could make more money playing in Indonesia, he wouldn't do it, because what he would make would pale in comparison to what he would lose in sponsorship money.

Fedor is not in Liddell's league marketing wise. How many PPV buys did that Bodog show do? 14,000 or something? We'll see what happens with Affliction, but I doubt it will be pretty.

Hell, even if Chuck Liddell was fighting on an Affliction or EliteXC show and the UFC went head to head with them, I think the UFC would come out on top there too.

Maybe that's the problem. There aren't any guys who can sell the sport on their own, and that might be just because of how MMA plays out. A guy like Liddell can be the biggest star in the world, but then he loses two fights in a row, and his drawing power takes a huge hit. The same could happen to anyone, which may prevent MMA from ever having a true superstar.

Totally agree with your point on how lucky you have to be to have a true superstar in MMA. Much more then boxing a few losses to good fighters and all of a sudden your a can. I think fans really should understand that no matter how good you are there are going to be nights when you lose, it's the nature of a MMA that so much can change so quickly.

As for your point about Fedors ability to draw those are just US buys and he was fighting a guy that most fans don't even know. Fedor is huge in Japan and fairly well known throughout Europe, South America and Asia he just isn't really well known here. If he wipes the floor with Couture, Arlovski and Barnett (very likely) he will be the most popular fighter in North America and the UFC will lose cred because everyone will know that the best in the world doesn't fight for them. Dana White is a complete joke IMO and I don't see the UFC being the dominant MMA brand 15-20 years from now. If Affliction keeps throwing huge money at top fighters and can sustain a short term loss for the bigger piece of the pie down the road that 15-20 years could be 3-4. This is still a very young sport, it hasn't even begun to evolve.