By Raul Rangel
SAN ANTONIO, TX, January 17, 2012 – Another UFC event has come and gone, there were KO’s, submissions, and controversial endings; but this UFC had a more interesting story coming in to the event than any UFC in history. Sure there have been plenty of PPV’s that had interesting news on a particular fight happening, but it is rare that UFC had a major story happening behind the scenes. UFC 142 might go down as one of the best PPV’s of all time due to the surrounding stories, great fights, and an interesting atmosphere that is Rio de Janeiro.
The event was hit by a story on Thursday afternoon from ESPN called, “UFC fighters say low pay simply brutal” by John Barr and Josh Gross; and a report from the television show Outside the Lines. The story covers how fighters for the UFC are paid low wages, have no union representation, and how they have no marketing rights.
Right away I was very weary of this story; I know several fighters that are beginning fighters for the UFC, who could now afford to quit their day jobs and focus solely on training and fighting. According to the report some of the low card guys can make barely $6,000 a fight, $3,000 to show $3,000 to win, with an increase each time. Now the people I know have wives, kids, bills, etc… like we all do there is no way they could afford to live and focus making this kind of money per fight.
The story did mention that the figures they were using were from what is released by the state’s athletic commission; what they did fail to mention was the types of bonus’ the fighters were given that the UFC does not have to disclose, with the exception of Fight of the Night, Submission of the Night, and KO of the Night. Also, a fighter can charge whatever they want to a sponsor on their shorts, shirts, hats, and banners. What was also not mentioned was the pay boxers that are on the low card get, want to talk about a shame I have seen some events were a boxer was paid as little as $800 for a major show.
Gross and Barr talked about how in order for a sponsor to sponsor fighters they have pay Zuffa a certain amount. This is not an uncommon practice in sports as they try not to let any brands that sponsor an event interfere with brands that sponsor the sport. But, a fighter can still get a sponsorship from a brand; Tim Kennedy is sponsored by Ranger UP. George St. Pierre is the Canadian endorsement of Gatorade, and Urijah Faber is featured on K-Swiss commercials. All of those brands do not pay for the fighters to wear any gear, shirts, or hats at the events. Plus, this rule also keeps out the riff raff of advertisements, there is something not right about a fighter having a sponsor called “Condom Depot” across their ass.
The article went into how UFC fighters have no union or representation. Now, I am neither pro-union nor anti-union, I am for a fair deal. If some fighters’ that are now currently employed by Zuffa (Owner’s of the UFC and Strikeforce), who have a problem and think a union is a way to go then they need to stand up and say something. Fighters who have had a disagreement with the company have always let it be known of their grievances and still fought for the UFC, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.
In the article Josh Gross failed to state how advanced UFC has come above other sports leagues. They implemented their fighters insurance to take are of fighters and their families. How many strikes and lockouts have we seen in pro sports where athletes were trying to get a deal like the one the UFC fighters received?
I wonder how much money Gross and Barr think fighters should be getting? Sure I would like to see all these guys become instant millionaires, but that kind of revenue is impossible. We sometimes forget that this sport is still at its early stages of development, I’d say we are at the toddler learning how to walk stage.
One day the sport of UFC brand may be amongst the top leagues, but we are not there yet. The difference between this sport and all the others is that in NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB is that they have seasons; there is no season in the UFC you either fight or you don’t.
Full Unedited Interview with Lorenzo Fertitta for ESPN ‘Outside the Lines’ Report
You can follow Raul Rangel on twitter @rrangel81 and you can also listen to his weekly podcast Undefeated Radio on iTunes.
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