Dana White claims most UFC fighters make more than boxers.
Fighter pay has been a rampant topic, especially in recent years, with plenty of criticism headed the UFC president’s way for not paying his fighters an equal share of the pie.
Of course, White has clapped back at this claim numerous times and has even used sarcasm to do so as well. We just need to go back to his comments about former women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in October.
“I love Joanna Jedrzejczyk. I’ve had a great relationship with her since day one. I know fighters don’t get paid around here [sarcasm] but Joanna Jedrzejczyk is very rich. She’s living her best life [laughs]. Go on Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s Instagram and you know, she’s living it. I think that she’s taking fights that really excite her. I don’t know if this one does. I’ll find out, though.”
Dana White: Don’t Believe The Stuff You Hear
White was broached about the topic again ahead of UFC 269 and was notably asked whether we’d ever reach a stage where UFC fighters were earning more than boxers as a whole.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Yeah, definitely,” White told Kevin Iole in a recent interview. “Listen, when you talk about the elite – I’m putting on 44 fights in a year, right? And people are buying these pay-per-views, you know, 13 or 14 a year, watching all the other ones building, whatever. Then, you look at what most of these guys make. Most UFC fighters make more than boxers. OK?
“Most UFC fighters make more than boxers, especially at a lower level. Then, the guys, you know, the Khabibs, the Conors, the Rondas, you know, even the Jon Joneses, these guys make more than most of these guys that are fighting for big title fights. Don’t believe the bullsh*t. Don’t believe all the stuff you hear. These guys make a lot of money.”
While White deserves the benefit of the doubt in that most UFC fighters probably earn a lot more than we think, it’s hard to take him seriously with his claim that most make more than boxers.
The big pay-per-view draws certainly might, but when you have fighters — including ranked ones — talking about how they are more or less broke or needed the money just about every month, there is definitely a problem.
You can watch the full interview below:
