Former Presidental Candidate Andrew Yang Criticizes UFC Fighter Pay
Former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is a huge fan of mixed martial arts. So much so, that he’s even made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast. Yang is very opinionated as a politician but he’s also unyielding on his thoughts about mixed martial arts. Especially when it comes to MMA and fighter pay. In his latest monologue, Yang slammed the UFC as an organization for how it pays its fighters.
The story of UFC vs fighter pay is the promotions first and original battle. Since the infant stages of the organization, fans, media, and fighters wonder why it’s competitors only receive a fraction of revenue. Or as fighters say, a small slice of the pie. Of course, fighters could unionize but, that’s a different story for a different day. For now, people like Yang will have to keep trying to fight the good fight for the underpaid fighters of the UFC.
Yang Speaks on UFC Fighter Pay
Yang recently spoke with Karim Zidan of BloodyElbow. During the conversation, he ripped the UFC for its wages paid to fighters.
“In every other sport, athletes are receiving anywhere between 47-50% of the sport’s revenue. In the UFC, the estimates are that fighters are receiving anywhere between the 10-15% range,” said Yang.
“And that’s not surprising when you look at the payouts for fighters, or even if you look at a major PPV card — those fighters are getting paid 25, 30, or 35,000 to fight, and these are fighters who are at the top of the industry. Meanwhile, these fighters generally only fight a couple of times a year and have to pay coaches and many of the expenses.
“You have a major sport with billions of dollars of value, where the athletes often can’t afford to fight full-time, and it is only because the UFC systematically squashed any effort for fighters to be treated the same way athletes are in other sports,” finished Andrew.
Making a Change
What do fans of the sport think it will take for the fighters to earn a percentage increase in revenue? Or, will the UFC simply continue to have the majority of the pie to themselves.
