The topic of fighter pay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship continues to grow, and Henry Cejudo shared a strong opinion on what needs to happen next. He believes athletes deserve better pay, but says change depends on fighters working together instead of acting alone.
Speaking alongside Kamaru Usman on their podcast, Cejudo compared MMA to other major sports leagues where players receive a larger share of revenue.
“There’s a 51-49 pay [split] in basketball, football, MLB, and these guys are making—If these dudes truly knew what they are making and what the UFC could potentially pay them, they’d think a little bit different,” Cejudo said.
He also pointed out that some fighters have had to take extra jobs despite competing at a high level.
“The other thing that I will say is managers. Could and would managers work together to formulate something to where they’re able to see eye to eye with the UFC where this doesn’t happen. Where guys are not working at Uber Eats. Pantoja, he was a former champ, when he was fighting in the UFC, he was working Uber Eats. It’s not just him, there’s a bunch of them.”
Need for Unity Among Fighters
Cejudo said the biggest issue is that fighters are not united when it comes to negotiations. He believes fear and individual thinking are holding them back.
“I feel like some of that stuff should change and I think everybody’s afraid and scared and doing their own thing, but it’s, like, whenever these fighters stop becoming p*ssies and these managers can actually get together is when these guys could actually start to formulate something to where, ‘Alright, you guys made a lot of money now, let’s distribute it a little bit better.’ Can we? Or is it the same model?”
The conversation comes at a time when several big names like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor have raised concerns about pay, while Ronda Rousey has also criticized the system publicly.
Questions About Big Deals
Cejudo and Usman also talked about recent long term contracts, including one signed by Alex Pereira. They questioned how deals like that affect other fighters on the roster.
“Congratulations to him,” Cejudo said. “If he got that, then cool, that just means he’s sticking around a little bit longer. But what about Jones? What about Conor McGregor? If Pereira’s not saying the number, but Pereira is super happy and I’m quoting what he’s saying, ‘Whatever the UFC wants, I am here to do,’ straight from his mouth in Portugues. That’s what he said. ‘I’m very, very happy with what I got.’
“That being said, what does that do to the rest of the fighters? What does that do to the top 5, the top 10 contenders when you’re paying somebody out like that?”
Usman added that focusing on one fighter will not solve the issue for the entire roster.
“That’s the thing about this situation is it can’t be one guy,” Usman added. “You can’t because it’s almost like you’re alienating, you’re just kind of pouring more gas into the fire. When the roster is unhappy, from the top all the way down to the bottom, and they’re unhappy with, ‘Hey, we feel that we should get a little bit more. We should get a little more because it’s been announced that you’re making all of this or this is what’s coming in from just these rights,’ then I feel like it just can’t be, ‘Alright, we’re going to pay this guy.’ That guy’s happy, that guy comes out, ‘Yeah, I’m good, I signed a new deal. Do whatever you want with me.’ Yes, but that one guy can’t carry a whole damn company. You need all fighters to carry a company.”
Bigger Pay Debate
Usman also compared MMA pay to other sports and questioned why top fighters sometimes earn less than lesser known athletes in other leagues.
“It is absurd that you can be a contender or even champion like Jon Jones, multiple times, the greatest of all time, and still potentially complain about not getting a fair share because there’s guys in the NBA that you’ve never heard of that made $100 million,” Usman said.
He ended by saying that the UFC remains the top organization in the sport, but changes are needed to improve the system for everyone.
“I don’t understand why this is out now especially in a time like this, but there’s a lot of things that need to be cleared up. Conor McGregor. Jon Jones. The list goes on and on and on, but hopefully there’s something that can be done, there’s a way to work with this company because of course nobody wants to see the UFC go away. Nobody wants to see that. UFC is the NFL. If the NFL dissolved tomorrow, people wouldn’t know what to do. Nobody wants to see that. I think it’s just finding a way to get a structure and a deal together to make sure this thing keeps going and of course it trickles down to everybody.” via MMAFighting
At the same time, Henry Cejudo has stayed active outside the promotion. His most recent appearance came in Real American Freestyle, where he competed following his UFC run.
