I wonder how much of that 2mil gate is going into the accident insurance for all 400 fighters on their payroll
nelson claims he loves burger king. he should try and get an endorsement deal. should probably win a fight at least first.
Yeah, except one small thing. If a fighter doesn't think his pay is enough, he can CHOOSE not to make a living in MMA. He can CHOOSE to do something else. If Roy Nelson didn't like his 6 figure contract, he could have stopped fighting MMA. And yes, regardless of the sport, my stance has always been "IF you sign a contract, then live up to it". "It's not fair"........... At the end of the day, Zuffa is a business. The primary goal of the business is to make money for the owners whether it's private owners or stockholders. They are doing that AND they continue to grow in popularity. Yet people on a message board question their methods. Funny stuff.
Don't go there. It disrupts the whole "UFC is unfair" sentiment. Personally, if I'm an athlete, I kind of like how Zuffa has begun treating their fighters. Damn, Rampage just made better than a 1/4 million dollars to fight freaking Matt Hamill.
i dont really care how much these guys get paid or not. it's their profession and also their choice of matter. having said that, i really do wonder how some of these guys get by in life. how do they pay bills? do they rent houses or own one? for a guy like nelson, unless he's a thrifty guy who saved all of his previous earnings, he has to be living a lifestyle that of a typical office worker who makes 50k a year (if that) or whatever. mma just doesnt seem like a wise profession in general. but then again, neither is professional boxing (unless you're a world class fighter making at least 500k a fight).
The pay shouldn't be compared to boxing. The UFC is essentially a league... and like all other leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL etc..) the owners will eventually be forced into giving the players a bigger cut.
Great analogy except for one small thing. None of the 'leagues' you mentioned pay the players. The individual team does. In the NFL, for example, the thing that gives a player leverage is what another owner MIGHT be willing to pay him. In the UFC, that same leverage doesn't exist. So, actually, it was a terrible analogy.
I guess it depends on whether you like training and fighting. If I could have played pro football for $20,000 a year in my 20's, I would have jumped on it without hesitation. You compared it to a typical office worker. Which would Nelson rather be doing? Working in an office or fighting for the UFC? Maybe he gets to do something he loves for $75K-$100K a year. I don't think that's a bad option.
Most of the guys in the UFC came from sh*t upbringings and fighting was their way out as they didn't really have any skills to work decent jobs. Most came from bouncing-type jobs. So whoever can't make it in the UFC will just end up fighting in a smaller league elsewhere. They can get by paycheque to paycheque but they'll not likely be living large like NBA or MLB players. Some fighters have done well obviously but even then, the ones making the bigger money like Rampage doesn't really seem all that motivated by the big money he's making. He made 250K but yet still can barely motivate himself to keep fighting. And he's one of the highest paid fighters on the roster.
Bullsh*t! You get tackled and your body is embedded into the field and you'll be changing your mind pretty quickly about whether 20K per year is worth your body getting beaten up.:: As for Nelson, he's not going to last in the UFC much longer if this keeps up and no other promotion will even pay him half of what he's making right now.
Yeah, wrong. I work out with high school players right now that end up batter and bruised yet play for $0 and can't wait for the next practice in summer Florida heat and humidity. But for the sake of not losing the point, change it from football to baseball.
i dont think that's true at all. a lot of ufc fighters are college grads. most kids who wrestled in high school/college are nerds and don't typically get full scholarships. we don't even see any 'real' black fighters that bernard hopkins always refer to. rashad graduated from michigan st, rampage went to some jr. college, phil davis finished at psu, and jon jones wrestled at the best junior college wrestling program.
that's because they're trying to get into the NFL! If they can't get in there, they ain't gonna be spending their lives playing pro ball for 20K per year. You can't even rent an apartment for that money. And since when was HS football comparable to the NFL?
but were they educated? That's the point. Like NBA players going through the best universities when most of these f*ckers can barely read. LOL
How do you figure he's making 75-100k a year if he is only getting 15k purses and fights like 1 or 2 times a year? You mentioned his 105k contract, but that was for like 5 fights over 2-3 years? As for the office worker comparison. The office worked isn't getting punched and knee'd in the head every time he goes to work. Nelson has gotten a lot of exposure and is somewhat of a draw. I cannot believe he was only paid 15k to fight Frank Mir in the fight before the main event. It certainly is not fair pay.
Less than 1% of students on High School Football teams end up with college scholarships. Kids play because they love the game. Do you honestly think every kid on a 70 man high school roster only plays to make it to the NFL. Ridiculous. You obviously NEVER played organized sports as a kid. High School nor college are on the same level as the NFL. But the relative damage and injuries are the same. Yet kids still work their asses off to make the team. But just for education sake, I would suggest you go watch a semi-pro game somewhere. Those guys typically work full time and play for pennies just to play the game. There are no NFL aspirations. There are no huge contracts. They get paid a small amount to play a game they love. PERIOD.
Nelson made $75,000 in 2010. That is straight contract salary and bonuses. That doesn't include any discretionary bonuses that the UFC is famous for. As for the office worker comparison, it's all about whether you enjoy what you do. Personally I would rather run wind sprints, lift weights, go thru two-a-day drills and play football as opposed to sitting in a cubicle all day. And pay me exactly the same thing. And damn, the 'Fair pay' comment again. Fair is living up to a contract that was signed openly. Damn... There is nothing unfair about a company paying an employee EXACTLY what they promised. And then giving them a bonus if they do well.
Why? They are running a business, you don't see a company like Apple paying it's employees ridiculous salaries becuase they make a lot of money and they make WAY more than UFC owners make. I'm really not sure why anyone gives a shit what a fighter makes anyway. Why does it matter to people so much?
He made 75k in 2010. 15k so far in 2011 and we're in June. 15k is below poverty. Basically he is making less this year than a full time employee at McDonalds. He would qualify for food stamps. Yet this is fair pay because he signed a contract? I disagree. Especially when you consider the no doubt zero negotiating power he had when it came to said contract. Even if he were able to max out at 75k a year for 5 or 10 years. Then what? What does he do after that? Get a 9-5 job? With what skills/experience?
I don't care if all the UFC fighters die from brain injuries and are dead broke. It's not my problem or anybody else's. Just think guys in a main event should be making a tiny bit more.
The Apple employee is gaining transferable skills that they can use to market themselves and acquire other jobs for years to come. The athlete needs to make enough money during their usually very short career to at least help support themselves after their career is over. Otherwise they wind up having to work some blue collared job making little money while still suffering from and paying for the physical toll of their previous career. If you care about the sport then you should care about the mistreatment of it's stars. I don't personally care all that much because I'd only consider myself a very fringe fan. I just don't agree with some of the posts here.
That is why the UFC is looking into starting fighter pensions. They just started providing insurance to all of it's 350+ fighters as well. It's definitely getting better. Personally, I really don't care what these guys make. If they don't like it they don't have to sign the contract. The fact is, there is no other MMA org that takes care of it's fighters better than the UFC.
If a fighter signs the contract, why should I care? Nobody forced them to sign anything. They can go work at Apple!
One last thing, over payment has all but ruined boxing. I do not want MMA to turn into boxing. Guys actually fight eachother in MMA, boxing is all about the least risk with the most reward. As far as I am concered that ruins it for the fans, and we pay the bills last I checked. Could you imagine if GSP was asking for 100 million dollars to fight Nick Diaz? Or Anderson Silva turning down 65 million to face Jon Jones? That shit don't happen in MMA.
i think many forget to realize that ufc is done on a monthly basis. despite whatever they generate in terms of sales, the owners wouldn't get much if they spent over 10 million on fighters' salary on every month in addition to what they spend on marketing, staff, production, and etc. i dont have enough resources to calculate what zuffa's actual net gain per show, but i wonder how the company would be sustainable if fighters got paid as much as they wanted.
Good point Joony, there are many expenses that people don't take into consideration. The marketing alone has to cost a hell of a lot.
You guys are nuts. Zuffa is making HUGE profits off of its monthly shows. Not to mention all of the endorsements and re-airing of shows through TV deals. Right now in Australia they're replaying the entire season of the ultimate fighter that Roy Nelson won. How much do you think Nelson is making off of that? How much do you think Zuffa is making? I agree with your point that if the fighters get into a position where they can start making outlandish salary demands then it will surely diminish the sport in the same way that it has boxing, but how about a happy middle ground where Zuffa pay the guys their base contract pay plus a percentage of the profits for the cards in which they appear?
Agreed. Middle ground would be ideal. Boxing is too extreme, and MMA is too crap. Nelson getting 15,000 is fucked up, sorry but it is, whatever way you look at it, for chief supporting bout.
No way, Reed. Dana White made a LOT MORE than any fighter. White owns stock. The net increase in the value of the UFC after an event has to go up maybe $15M (for a shit event like this), $30M? $50M? Whatever White's percentage of stock is, I'm guessing it has to be large enough to trounce Rampage and Mir's salaries.
