From bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/01/17/ufc-average-fighter-pay-goes-up-but-reebok-deal-hurts-some/
The story is by a non-MMA journalist by Galen Moore, and mentioned Matt Mitrione specifically. I don't think it's his fault he was swerved here.
This is the relevant quote: "Celebrity fighters like Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey earn millions, but Fertitta estimates the average mid-tier UFC fighter gets about three fights a year and earns about $200,000 per fight--for a back-of-the-envelope average earnings of about $600,000 a year. "We do have a middle class in UFC," he said. The Reebok sponsorship will add to that figure, in addition to any sponsorships fighters can pull down outside of the ring."
Holy fucking shit, that is the biggest load of horseshit I have read all week.
To begin, and this is the most important point, it seems like Lorenzo added an extra zero to his figure. $600,000 is something he pulled the fuck out of thin air. Literally. For example, Matt Mitrione is well above your median fighter, with 14 fights in the UFC and some name recogniztion, and he earns about $35k show money.
Furthermore, your average or median UFC fighter only fights twice a year. That's just simple math.
Finally, and this is just retreading here, if your median NBA player cannot get any fucking outside endorsements, how the fuck are the vast majority of UFC fighters supposed to? No matter what you think of TapOut and Affliction and all those other major MMA apparel brands and sponsors, the business model as it was previously worked, and that's now been fucked all to death.
There are Champions in the UFC who did not earn $600,000 last year. There are ranked fighters in some divisions who have to get a part-time job on top of fighting to make ends meet, because they pay out of pocket. Your average starting UFC fighter on their first contract isn't even middle class by conventional standards, they are blue collar working class and barely make more than retail money.
I know people love to bash Dana White to death, but he only owns 9% of the company and the Fertitas own 81%. I don't think it's Dana making the pay structure here.
Either Lorenzo is fantastically ignorant of his own promotion's balance sheet, or he's fine telling insane lies about what he pays his fighters. Somehow I don't think it's the former.
