goku - excellent post. I agree 100%.
In addition to the UFC purse many fighter's can supplement this income with sponsors, private training sessions, appearances, etc.
It's the UFC that provides this OPPORTUNITY for fighters. Privates alone can and does provide substantial earnings.
The OPPORTUNITY is substantial if the desire is there.
blueheron20816 - so you think that a world class fighter for the top organization in the world deserves as much credit as a truck driver for coca-cola? wow, I really hope this is a troll job.While I agree to an extent.
The UFC cant be compared to other organizations anymore, it is in a league of its own and it should act that way; paying all of its skilled athletes enough to live comfortably. Not just scrape by to be cut months later with absolutely nothing to show for it. Even practice squad guys in the NFL are making more and they arent even dressing on game days. The undercard guys need to train the same, and carry the same risk as the guys in the main event. If your going to step in a cage and fight one of the best fighters in the world, you should be compensated appropriately. Im not saying pay them millions, but $5,000 is not enough.
OP, you should take a fight sometime, then multiply everything you did for and during that fight by 100 and then you might have an idea what these guys go through just to entertain you. its sad that the way you repay them is to come on the UG to tell them to stop bitching about being poor while in the premier organization in the world.
Average fans don't typically watch undercard fights.
If 5K isn't enough, don't take the fight.
I Personally think fighters are TOO willing to sign with the UFC as soon as possible.
And get shafed into peanuts and no other options.
I'd build a name, build some buzz, etc.. Then get more money when you did sign.
Seems like a smarter plan.
Fat Guys Food -ziggystardust - If everyone can train full time while under Bellator contract that will increase the overall quality and further push the max of the top fighters.
If Bellator's and MFC's profit margins and market positions were closer to Zuffa's, your answers would be less embarrasing. 
Authority Figure - The holier than thou attitude is astounding. The same guys that brown nose and rub the nutsack of a fighter that posts on the UG, balk at their right at fair pay?Fighters are independant contractors, not employees.
100 years ago industrialists gave the worse, most dangerous jobs in America to CHILDREN. If it was likely you'd die, be maimed or get sick, the job was advertised for kids. And that kid earned less than half of what an adult earned. They were seen as expendable. Years later, with the advent of child labor laws, adults went into those jobs. They too died, suffered and worked for peanuts. Then we got labor unions and legislation to protect them.
We learned over time that any industry that was profitable enough to sustain itself should be expected to pay its workers fairly and ensure reasonable work conditions. If are an employee, and not an employer, you reap the benefits of this thinking and the lives of workers lost over history. You take for granted what others thought would never be possible.
But you would deprive a fighter the same rights? Some of you don't sound like fans at all. You sound like enemies of the sport.
Mixed martial arts is one of the safest sports one can participate in statistically.
Bringing up children in sweat shops is a pathetic attempt for pity.
Fighters CHOOSE this life.
Look at what low level boxers make.
No one is forcing guys to fight in the UFC.
Goku is correct.
Authority Figure - The holier than thou attitude is astounding. The same guys that brown nose and rub the nutsack of a fighter that posts on the UG, balk at their right at fair pay?
100 years ago industrialists gave the worse, most dangerous jobs in America to CHILDREN. If it was likely you'd die, be maimed or get sick, the job was advertised for kids. And that kid earned less than half of what an adult earned. They were seen as expendable. Years later, with the advent of child labor laws, adults went into those jobs. They too died, suffered and worked for peanuts. Then we got labor unions and legislation to protect them.
We learned over time that any industry that was profitable enough to sustain itself should be expected to pay its workers fairly and ensure reasonable work conditions. If are an employee, and not an employer, you reap the benefits of this thinking and the lives of workers lost over history. You take for granted what others thought would never be possible.
But you would deprive a fighter the same rights? Some of you don't sound like fans at all. You sound like enemies of the sport.
how is it holier than thou? i am holding fighters to the same standards everyone else lives by including myself...how much do you want to pay fighters? $15 k for 15 minutes of work? and dont talk about traneing. like i said, people PAY 100 a month to trane. i make a lot more than most fighters but my work is painful..i could have easily gone pro as a fighter (pretty much anyone can), but i would have made scraps so i didnt....there is a tradeoff...
Would be nice to see this same concern for wrestlers. There are guys who are world class competitors that have to devote time as high school and college coaches when they could use that time for training in order to represent the country.
fighters have a greater risk of injury than most jobs, have to put in more hours, and when compared to other sports are making shit for money. Fight in another organization when UFC has bought out all the competition?
paluka - fighters have a greater risk of injury than most jobs, have to put in more hours, and when compared to other sports are making shit for money. Fight in another organization when UFC has bought out all the competition?
If they arent good enough to make a living, then they should find a new job. it is that simple. UFC also gives great incentives for lower tier fighters like fight of the night and other bonuses that people don't talk about much..
Hey, think what you like. Just stop pretending to be a fan of the sport and someone that respects fighters.
And the next time you find yourself whining about YOUR salary, just remember a lot of people died, protested and sacrificed so you could do something as simple as complain, much less have that job.
You know as westerners, we really don't get it. As little as 2 years ago, people in Japan were DIEING on the assembly lines at Toyota. Twenty years ago, if you worked at Hyundai it pretty much expected that you would lose an arm or leg way before you retired. I'm naming auto companies in Asia, but I could give a dozen examples.
You're living the good life. A job. The right to request a raise. The right to disagree w/ your boss. The right to sue your boss. The right to have the gov't investigate your employer free of charge. The right to a livable wage.
But you'd deny that to others. You're just too cool for school. smh.
paluka - fighters have a greater risk of injury than most jobs, have to put in more hours, and when compared to other sports are making shit for money. Fight in another organization when UFC has bought out all the competition?
how much were undercard fighters making at strikforce, affiliction, elite xc (oh wait, went under), ifl (oh wait, went under)...
Authority Figure - Hey, think what you like. Just stop pretending to be a fan of the sport and someone that respects fighters.i can respect a fighter without thinking they should get paid more..u list all these things as "rights" but they are not "rights"..thats calle self-entitlement...im not too cool for school - i believe i have a right to nothing
And the next time you find yourself whining about YOUR salary, just remember a lot of people died, protested and sacrificed so you could do something as simple as complain, much less have that job.
You know as westerners, we really don't get it. As little as 2 years ago, people in Japan were DIEING on the assembly lines at Toyota. Twenty years ago, if you worked at Hyundai it pretty much expected that you would lose an arm or leg way before you retired. I'm naming auto companies in Asia, but I could give a dozen examples.
You're living the good life. A job. The right to request a raise. The right to disagree w/ your boss. The right to sue your boss. The right to have the gov't investigate your employer free of charge. The right to a livable wage.
But you'd deny that to others. You're just too cool for school. smh.
Well, i feel that if a fighter is released before his fights are up he should at least get the base pay for the remaining two fights and not end up with nothing since he signed the contract able and willing to show up for those fights anyways if the payscale is the same as it is now.
goku -Authority Figure - Hey, think what you like. Just stop pretending to be a fan of the sport and someone that respects fighters.i can respect a fighter without thinking they should get paid more..u list all these things as "rights" but they are not "rights"..thats calle self-entitlement...im not too cool for school - i believe i have a right to nothing
And the next time you find yourself whining about YOUR salary, just remember a lot of people died, protested and sacrificed so you could do something as simple as complain, much less have that job.
You know as westerners, we really don't get it. As little as 2 years ago, people in Japan were DIEING on the assembly lines at Toyota. Twenty years ago, if you worked at Hyundai it pretty much expected that you would lose an arm or leg way before you retired. I'm naming auto companies in Asia, but I could give a dozen examples.
You're living the good life. A job. The right to request a raise. The right to disagree w/ your boss. The right to sue your boss. The right to have the gov't investigate your employer free of charge. The right to a livable wage.
But you'd deny that to others. You're just too cool for school. smh.
Dear God. I'm seriously going to need you state your age, level of education and country of origin. You just said that a "livable wage" is an entitlement. You just said that a right to reasonable work conditions is an entitlement.
Seriously, no troll, Age/Education/Country. I need context. It's obvious you don't understand Labor Law or Corporate Ethics, but most people don't, so I can't fault you. But I need to truly understand your position, so I need to know a bit about you. I promise, no bashing.
Jacinto - Well, i feel that if a fighter is released before his fights are up he should at least get the base pay for the remaining two fights and not end up with nothing since he signed the contract able and willing to show up for those fights anyways if the payscale is the same as it is now.
that makes no sense..y would they pay him for fights he did not fight? he is released and can fight elsewhere now
Jacinto - the UFC contracts that the fighter signed states otherwise when it comes to getting "cut". If that clause is not acceptable ... Don't sign the contract.
Don't know if it was mentioned but the UFC does provide bonuses for up to at least 4 fighters of around $70K per show. 4 out of 20 is 20% odds on a big bonus and the UFC is not contractually obligated to do this.
goku -Jacinto - Well, i feel that if a fighter is released before his fights are up he should at least get the base pay for the remaining two fights and not end up with nothing since he signed the contract able and willing to show up for those fights anyways if the payscale is the same as it is now.
that makes no sense..y would they pay him for fights he did not fight? he is released and can fight elsewhere now
Well, it makes sense for the wages they are paying fighters now and who can be released without notice even though they are able and willing to fulfill their end of the contract.
JPet - Jacinto - the UFC contracts that the fighter signed states otherwise when it comes to getting "cut". If that clause is not acceptable ... Don't sign the contract.
Well that is true and i suppose they will have to accept it until they all do the proper thing and form a fighter's union.
World class athletes being tied down to exclusive contracts in a world class organization should be compensated appropriate to the amount they must train and sacrifice to compete at that level. These guys have already paid their dues in smaller shows where they get paid even less, but hey, theyre the equivalent to the guys delivering coca-cola right? If you dont understand why these guys think they deserve more money, then you dont understand anything about this sport. More keyboard warriors acting like they can put themselves into a UFC fighters shoes. "Well this is what I would do"....fucking bullshit. Threads like this make me lose hope in the UG.
This is when I exit a thread. Have fun high fiving each other as you celebrate your agreement that poor UFC fighters dont deserve more than what they get. Probably the same fucking clowns that said they didnt deserve insurance....
I don't think we should be concerned with the pay scale, the fighters signed the contract so if they don't like how much they are getting paid then don't sign. No one is obligated to get anything 