Why is everybody complaining that UFC fighters are underpaid ?

Again, they can't do anything to their fighters unless the fighters agree to it.

You make the blanket statement that my comparison is flawed yet don't point out anything untrue in what I said.

 

:bears: Exactly Joe. Where the f*ck is all the money going?

 

Exactly my point. Don't blame the UFC. Blame the top fighters that agree to contracts with the UFC.

The UFC isn't the lone organization promoting MMA bouts. They do not have a monopoly. They are, however, the biggest and fastest growing. Even with that being true, a fighter has options. One option is not to fight if they can't make what they consider a fair wage.

Hell, I would love to get paid to play blackjack, but since nobody is willing to pay me, I have to do something else for a living.

 

Ask the same thing about the profits of any money-making company or corporation.

If I own a company, I want as much money as possible going back into my pocket and the bare minimum to get the job done going into the pockets of my employees.

Why is that such a foreign concept on here.

 

So you think boxers are paid what they deserve?

 

At the pay per view level and TV card headlining level? absolutely. Boxers are making millions. Of course not every boxer is at that level or paid handsomely when they are but the majority of the time it's fair compensation IMO.

Kevin Johnson made at least 500K for fighting Klit on free German TV. Brock Lesnar made the same for headlining the biggest pay per view events in UFC history.::

 

Hilarious. Therein lies the reason many big boxing bouts are never made. Fighters and fans like you think they 'deserve' a certain amount.

 

You could get paid paying BlackJack. But you suck at it which is why nobody wants to pay you.

 

No, what's hilarious is that your argument got shut down 3 posts ago and you are projecting that fans like me are the reason major boxing matches never take place. Mosley/PBF anyone?

If you can't see that boxers are paid much more than MMA fighters yet the promtions still go on and the promoters and networks are still wealthy, then I can't help you. If they were losing money, the fighters would be paid much less.:bangh:

 

Kevin Johnson made double what Randy Couture made for defending his UFC title when he was champ. Randy Couture also walked out on the UFC for that reason. Unfair compensation.
The UFC was ready to pay Fedor $2 million and yet the UFC heavyweight champion was making merely 250K.:laughing:

 

I said 500K for Kevin Johnson and I was giving a low ball figure. I remember reading that he actually got $1,000,000 for the fight but I don't have a link so I went with half of that.:cheer:

The headliners of the UFC have been getting ripped off from the beginning. That being said, the undercard fighters get a little more than boxing undercard fighters but the difference in pay at the top is too substantial to ignore or hide. Ridiculous.

 

People are so short sighted when it comes to this. They only look at what they want to see and don't look at the whole picture. Sure, the UFC is doing great business, but they've only just started doing great business. And there is no guarantee that they will continue to do great business in the future.

Once the bar is raised for payoffs, it's very hard to lower it. Look at the fall of the Pro Wrestling group WCW. They were the Number 2 wrestling organization in America, but compared to the WWF, they were small time. Then almost overnight, they achieved great success and started becoming very profitable. Because the money was rolling in, suddenly all of the wrestlers got these huge contracts. Expenses grew as the promotion expanded. Bigger arenas (like the Georgia Dome) were being rented out. Money was coming in fast, and it was being paid out just as fast.

Then suddenly, business slowed down. The money wasn't coming in anymore. PPV buys plummeted. So did attendance. Rating dropped. But these huge contracts still had to be paid. As quick as they found success, they started bleeding money. The company began bleeding money. And before you knew it, they were out of business.

Now what happens if elite UFC fighters are making Mayweather money, but business slows down? What happens if the PPV's start losing money? What happens if Spike decides to change formats and drops the UFC? Do you think that the fighters are gonna care? They'll have grown accustomed to getting paid big bucks and won't fight for less. Then the UFC as we know it will be dead.

It will become like boxing where we're lucky to see one blockbuster matchup a year, and quality undercards will become a thing of the past. And with the undercards suffering, it will hurt the growth of new talent. Then down the road without new stars being made on the undercards, main event fighters will disappear and not be replaced.

To even strengthen the point, as boxing fans, how many times have you seen fights delayed or not happen at all because of money? Do you really want that to start happening in MMA too? I sure as hell don't.

And just to add, look at all of the MMA groups that have folded over the years. Two of the groups, Bodog and Affliction paid their fighters well over market value, and how long did they last?

And just a final point. The UFC is still growing. The Zuffa version is still in it's infancy. The fighter's pay, their bonuses, the royalties they make, and the opportunity the UFC exposure gives them to earn more money has been growing at a good pace since Zuffa took over. You can't go from paying main eventers $30,000 to $30 Million overnight. Look at the payoffs from just a few years ago and compare them to payoffs now. There is no denying the money is starting to come in.

And you also have to account that if the UFC sells 400,000 PPV's at $50 a pop, that doesn't mean they clear $20 million profit. The PPV providers take a big part of that pie. Then there is marketing, arena rental, insurance, security, etc, etc, etc. Plus, they are still trying to grow the sport. Do you think trying to get MMA legalized in places like NY is free? You don't think it takes money to try and expand into new markets like Australia, Dubai and Europe?

Much like the athletes of the past in other sports like MLB and the NFL paved the way for today's athletes to make the millions they do today, the UFC fighters of the past and present are now doing that for the fighters of tomorrow.

But I guess that just makes too much sense for most people and it's a lot more fun to cry about salaries that most fighters are happy to fight for.

TFK

 

Endorsements are pay outside of the UFC. The earnings shouldn't and doesn't make up for the fact that they could be making much more money from the organization they are fighting for.

The only argument I have read against the UFC paying its fighters more is "the fighters dont' care so why should the fans":laughing::laughing:

 

No one is saying to pay Brock 10 million dollars, but maybe a million would suffice instead of 400K.:dunno: That's the argument. Talk about short sighted. The UFC is trying to expand, yes, but so what. That's their company's responsibility. Maybe they can cut down on the number of events if they are stretched so thin, but they are doing the exact opposite. Pick a side.

 

http://www.wedoitallvegas.com/Artic...gs-for-UFC-100-Could-Top-4-Million/Page1.html

That's probably the dumbest thing you've ever written on this board.

TFK

 

Shot down? I am still waiting for you to answer a simple business question and tell what MMA fighters should be paid.

You contend they aren't being paid enough so tell me what Silva should have made for beating Maia?

The truth is you don't have a freaking clue. You see the company making money and think the fighters deserve to do the same. You are basically saying that fighters shouldn't honor contracts that they signed under their own free will.

That, my friend, is just completely ridiculous. The bottom line, that no one has argued, is that the fighters aren't being forced to fight. They can quit and do something else if they feel they are being "fucked" as you put it.

So try and shoot that down and tell me one single inaccuracy of what I've said. You can't.

 

What a dolt. Great business move to throw out an arbitrary number without one single piece of business reasoning behind it.

Hmmm, why not spin a wheel and decide what to pay guys. Unreal. Have you ever read a single paragraph about business? Seriously?

 

Oh, you didn't know the first rule of running a business?

 

Sponsor money is OUTSIDE INCOME not paid out by the UFC. What is so hard to understand about that? Don't you think boxers get sponsors and increase their income?? Oh wait, they don't have banners in their corners.:boohoo:

Here you go again trying to parade the UFC as an unselfish ambassador of MMA when it is exactly the opposite. They are trying to expand their monopoly to other markets which is great for them. Yes it's smart business but I don't see you heralding Golden Boy or Top Rank as boxing ambassadors. I sure have read you saying that they are greedy and self serving but yet the UFC and their fighters are sacrificing and "paving the way for future fighters". Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.

 

"MMA is not on the rise, the UFC is on the rise!" -Dana White @ UFC 68 Press conference.

As odd as it sounds, the UFC is trying to kill the sport of MMA. It's why they're putting on those free Spike shows in the same timeslot as StrikeForce. To kill the competition so that fighters have nowhere else to go except the UFC. And those who get cut by the UFC have nowhere else to fight...period.

 

:: Let's talk business then. I already covered boxing promoters sharing profits with other promoters and networks for similar promotions and PPV buyrates yet have paid their fighters much more than the UFC has paid their fighters. Yet the boxing promoters have more incurred costs.:doh:

Can you argue against that? I'm still waiting...

either that or you can simply say that boxing promoters are better than UFC promoters. I don't necessarily agree but you'd be making less of a fool of yourself than you already are.

 

No, Dana White is trying to benefit the whole sport and pave the way for future fighters to earn millions-TFK/Triplsec

:doh::doh::doh: but also:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

A fool of myself. Dude you demonstrate that you have zero business knowledge in every post you make.

Again, read this slowly for comprehension sake, it doesn't matter what the UFC's cost are versus boxing promoters. They only HAVE to pay the amount that the fighters agree to. Period.

Geez, can you really be so slow when it comes to business? I've given a dozen analogies that even the most simple person could relate to. Hell, even your partner Hanz has agreed that the fighters are to blame for what they agree to getting paid.

You act as if a business has some obligation to pay employees a certain percentage of their margin. They don't.

How moronic is your comment "why not just pay Lesnar, hmmm, I don't know, how about a million dollars."

That literally had me spitting water I laughed so hard. I think every company president in the US should adopt your payroll strategy. :notallthere::notallthere:

 

.


TFK

 

Exactly. An SOB who is deeply in love with MMA and is trying to benefit the entire sport and help it grow so that the fighters of coming years will make more money wouldn't be putting on f*cking free Spike TV shows as counter-programming to kill the ratings of a competitor and try to put them out of business.
Nor would that SOB be posting smiley faces on his Twitter in reaction to the bad turn of events that unfolded during the competitor's live broadcast.
Like I said before, Dana White is what's wrong with the sport of MMA.

 

All I want to know is...Where is all the money going? Obviously not the fighters

 

I agree but like I said before,its up to the fighters to do something about and so far,they've been hush hush

 

No, if you had one single, tiny little ounce of business sense you would understand that Dana White, as President of the UFC, has one single primary responsibility above all others. And that is to make the most money for the company as possible.

That's why he has the job and not a dolt like you that says "Hmm let's pay Lesnar a million dollars despite the fact that he has agreed to fight for less."

I am done with this conversation because you just don't have the basic business understanding to even debate with.

Your strategy should have been to talk about the fighters needing to take control of their own destinies and demanding to be paid more.

Shit look at Fedor. We all hate that he didn't sign with the UFC, but he showed that a fighter can decided NOT to fight for the UFC.

 

Because they have no power. Where can they go? Either make 8K in the UFC or 3K in some backalley org somewhere.