Fighter pay is a major topic in MMA right now, as many fighters are asking for a bigger piece of the pie as the sport grows, especially with YouTubers like Jake Paul demonstrating how much money there is out there.
Paul has become a champion for fighter compensation, donating to UFC women’s flyweight Sarah Alpar’s GoFundMe, which once again brought attention to some of the issues.
Sonnen talked out on UFC fighter pay on his YouTube channel, defending the world’s largest MMA organization and White over how much they pay their athletes.
Sonnen, for example, pointed out that a UFC rookie’s current minimum pay structure is $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. Sonnen, on the other hand, claims that he first fought for the UFC in 2005 on a $2000 to show and $2000 to win deal. The fact that the minimum wage has increased six times is proof, according to Sonnen, that pay is improving.
“Dana is the one who believes that fighters were exploited and that fighters were underpaid.
And now they’re attempting to use the same reasoning he used to make it look like he’s doing something wrong.
It was 2005 when I first competed in the UFC.
I was compensated $2,000 for showing up and $2,000 for winning.
When I got that cheque, I couldn’t believe how much money I had in my pocket.
$2,000 in 2005,” says the author.
Subscribe
