Jared Cannonier wants UFC fighter pay to look more like compensation for top athletes in major sports. During a Full Send MMA fight-week interview before UFC Oklahoma City, Cannonier said fighters deal with global exposure, sponsor changes, and significant costs before adding, “I should have million dollar contracts.”
Cannonier is scheduled to face Christian Leroy Duncan in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman on July 18 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The middleweight bout sits on the main card, with Duncan entering at 14-2 and Cannonier at 18-9.
“Yes, I would love to get paid more,” Cannonier said. “I would love for all of us MMA fighters to get paid more, but there’s a big differentiation in skill level, even in the UFC. I think the UFC pays a lot based off of merit, you know what I mean? How you perform, A, how you market yourself, B.”
Jared Cannonier gives an honest take on UFC fighter pay
“I would like to get paid the same way the highest level athletes in any sport get paid. I should have million dollar contacts at the stage I’m in, I’ve been top 10 for 7-8 years. I’m not complaining but it’s how I feel” pic.twitter.com/6CwX9xq6pO
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) July 16, 2026
Cannonier Points To Risk And Sponsor Changes
Cannonier then compared UFC fighters with top athletes in other sports, pointing to global exposure and the cost of getting through camp and fight week.
“Let me put it like this,” Cannonier said. “I would like to get paid the way that other major, the highest performing athletes in any sport get paid.”
“If you’re telling me we’re on TVs around the world, you know what I mean? We go through a lot just to make it to fight week,” Cannonier said. “You know, we lose a lot of money that’s not coming to us.”
“We used to get a bunch of sponsors,” Cannonier said. “We still get sponsors, but the landscape, the changing of the landscape changed that for us, and it didn’t leave us with much of anything at the end.”
“So again, fighters are definitely at the shit end of the stick of this whole business, if you will,” Cannonier said.
Cannonier Says His Career Should Mean Bigger Contracts
Cannonier, 42, has fought in the UFC since 2015 and has competed at heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight. His pay argument came from that career span rather than from a single fight-week complaint, especially after recent ranked moments like his Michael “Venom” Page fight and earlier Khamzat Chimaev callout.
“But yeah, I mean, I think I should be getting paid,” Cannonier said. “I should have million dollar contracts. Not, you know what I mean, $100,000 contracts and stuff. It’s the stage that I’m in, you know what I mean?”
“I’ve been top five, top 10, for about what? Seven, eight years, I think,” Cannonier said. “So again, I’m not complaining, but this is definitely how I feel. I’m not going to hold back in voicing my opinion in that.”
Cannonier faces Christian Leroy Duncan on July 18 at UFC Fight Night: Du Plessis vs. Usman in Oklahoma City. His pay comments came during fight week after he pointed to global television exposure, sponsor changes, and his seven-to-eight-year run around the UFC top five and top 10.
