UFC purses

[robbie mustoe]

Just a question for the MMA fans as I know there are a few on this forum.

What is the deal with the payments to the UFC fighters? Why are they paid so much less than boxers? Some of the UFC PPV cards over in the States have done very well as far as the number of buys is concerned yet the fighters do not seem to be paid accordingly. Is it simply a case of the UFC basically being a monopoly and Dana pretty much just saying fight for this or don't fight at all?

 

[pennywisealfie]

a little bit yes and a little bit no. dana hates the fact that 2 boxers can go in the ring and have multi millions guarenteed and put on the most boring fight.

dana gives good bonuses to fighters who put on great fights, win or lose. if you put on a good show or show some heart, dana will hook u up with the dollars.

however one majorly bad case is Keith Jardine, who is one of the worlds biggest fighters, he even beat Chuck Liddell recently, but he signed a multi fight deal for 10,000 bucks a fight after being on the ultimate fighter and he had a rapid rise.

Im not a fan of the money that ufc fighters make, as they do so much for fans and so much for the ufc and are in a tougher sport than boxing, but ufc doesnt make the money boxing does, when it becomes bigger internationally, thats when the bucks will be coming in.

thats not to say ufc fighters dont make a good living, coz they really do, chuck liddell is rich as ****, a lot of that has to do with his endorsments and such but zuffa work hard to give fighters such opportunities.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Just seems they are getting screwed to me. I'm a boxing fan and do not like the UFC but some of those fights are doing good PPV numbers and the fighters seem massively underpaid to me.

 

[spoonbled]

yeh pretty much you dont like it then i got 100 guys willing to take your spot.

Bit like the wrestling, only a few top guys get the dough while others are working for barely nothing.

 

[Sabu_2008]

Only a tope few draw too. I think, if you can draw, you should get paid. If you dont, well then too bad.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Only a tope few draw too. I think, if you can draw, you should get paid. If you dont, well then too bad.

Pretty sure even the guys who draw the fans are being well under-paid. Maybe I am incorrect but this is just what I have read. The top UFC events are doing some pretty healthy PPV numbers and it just seems as though they are being paid well below their true value. It seems to me like it is a product of having a monopoly providers. Consider boxing, where promoters bid for a fight and that is how the purse is formed. This is a much more competitive and equitable way of compensating fighters for their efforts.

 

[spoonbled]

just like wwe taking over its rival, like ufc taking over pride, they can offer less money now as there isnt a place equally the same that can offer the same amount.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Just thought I would bump this thread.

Here are the stats for the purses made by MMA fighters and boxers in 2008. Can someone explain to me the discrepancy? I cannot understand this. Supposedly over in the States the UFC is continuing to thrive whilst boxing is "dieing". If this is the case then how the hell does this happen? Is it just that Dana is really this big an asshole that he would pay the fighters even 10% of their true worth? I find the difference to be staggering.

Biggest one fight purse for each sport in 2008

MMA

Tim Sylvia - $800,000
Andre Arlovski -$749,690
Chuck Liddel l - $500,000
Kimbo Slice - $500,000
Brock Lesnar - $450,000
Forrest Griffin - $310,000
BJ Penn - $250,000
Randy Couture - $250,000
Anderson Silva - $200,000

Boxing

Oscar Delahoya - $24,000,000
Felix Trinidad - $14,000,000
Wladimir Klitschko - $12,000,000
Manny Pacquiao - $11,000,000
Joe Calzaghe - $10,000,000
Roy Jones - $10,000,000
Bernard Hopkins - $8,000,000
Miguel Cotto - $7,000,000
Kelly Pavlik - $3,000,000

 

[pennywisealfie]

I was watching some boxing show the other day and they were saying how its ridiculous to compare MMA & Boxing earnings since MMA has only been popular for 5 years while boxing has been around forever and apparently boxing still makes way more money than MMA.

 

[robbie mustoe]

I was watching some boxing show the other day and they were saying how its ridiculous to compare MMA & Boxing earnings since MMA has only been popular for 5 years while boxing has been around forever and apparently boxing still makes way more money than MMA.

I don't really buy it. How does the duration of the sport have such a profound impact. Some of the PPV events the MMA guys put on are doing up near 1 million buys, yet the fighters aren't even earning 1 mill for it. Seems completely ridiculous.

 

[pennywisealfie]

oh, i agree that they arent being paid enough for sure, but they also shouldnt be getting upwards of 15mil for a fight yet either.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Lesnar-Couture was in November right? That fight did over 1 million PPVs in North America alone. The combined purse of the two fighters was what? $800,000? That has gotta be a joke.

Meanwhile DLH-Pac does approx 1.4 million PPVs and the combined purse of the fighters is $35 million. Sure the live gate for the boxing would have been bigger but absolutely nothing in comparison to that difference.

I cannot understand why more isn't said by MMA fans about how much of a scumbag Dana is. Where is all the fukn money going? They all just sit there like morons and ignore this shit. You are talking millions upon millions upon millions that should be going to the fighters. Hell, boxers get 2 and 3 times as much as the top MMA fighters for non-PPV events. It is a joke.

 

[pennywisealfie]

Money ruins sport. id much rather 2 people didnt get a share in 35 million for prancing around. id be happy if in a main event, the winner got 2 mil, the loser got 1 mil. Its not like they are doing it tough anyway, id much rather get paid 50,000 a fight to compete in fighting than get paid minimum wage to do shitty work. if they start paying the fighters boxing money, than mma will turn into boxing where theres all these money hungry wankers who just showboat around to get the "benjamins".

Dana can be a douche, and i agree the fighters should get more of the share, but i never want to see someone in mma get something like 10 mil for a fight.

 

[robbie mustoe]

Money ruins sport. id much rather 2 people didnt get a share in 35 million for prancing around. id be happy if in a main event, the winner got 2 mil, the loser got 1 mil. Its not like they are doing it tough anyway, id much rather get paid 50,000 a fight to compete in fighting than get paid minimum wage to do shitty work. if they start paying the fighters boxing money, than mma will turn into boxing where theres all these money hungry wankers who just showboat around to get the "benjamins".

Dana can be a douche, and i agree the fighters should get more of the share, but i never want to see someone in mma get something like 10 mil for a fight.

I disagree.

The fighters should get paid what they are worth. If a fighter is worth 10 million, that is what he should get.

 

[pennywisealfie]

noone is worth 10 million tho. not fighters, not actors. they are all grossly overpaid.

 

[robbie mustoe]

noone is worth 10 million tho. not fighters, not actors. they are all grossly overpaid.

That is ridiculous. They are worth what they are worth. If they put on fight that generates a certain amount of revenue then they should be entitled to a significant proportion of that. Or is Dana the one that is worth 10 mill?

It sickens me. The only reason he can get away with this shit is because most of the other MMA organisations around the world are failing. The UFC needs more competition so the fighters get a fair deal.

 

[Sabu_2008]

^Exactly. If they draw, they draw. If they dont ,they dont. The UFC has only recently began drawing in boxing numbers, in terms of PPV buy rates. I think you'll see a definite rise in pay packets for the fighters, though you've got to remember MMA is only 20 or so years old. Boxing is an institution, so yo uwont see boxing size pay packets in the UFC for years to come.

 

[spoonbled]

Funny thing is i havent read or heard any mma fighters complaining about there purses.
I know Randy and Tito had contract disputes but it didnt take Randy to come back to the UFC.

I would like to know how much their sponsorship deals are worth with Tapout, warrior wear etc.