Zuffa Boxing is forking over $15 million to get one fight from Conor Benn.
Not surprisingly, that kind of windfall — more than what most MMA fighters make in their entire careers — did not sit well with the current UFC roster. While the money isn’t coming directly from Zuffa, the Benn payout is a stark reminder of the pay disparity between cage fighters and boxers.
So what can UFC athletes do to help their own cause?
“With this Paramount deal, hopefully fighters can start getting together and being
smart and sticking their necks out, even the lower fighters,” UFC 326 headliner, Max Holloway, told Demetrious Johnson. “It comes down to the point where pay and stuff, that I always think about it, one time that’s always going to stick out in my mind was when — I love Derrick Lewis, man, he’s the man. But when Jon Jones said, ‘Oh, I’ll fight Francis [Ngannou].’ I think he’s like, ‘Give me $10 million,’ or whatever it was. And UFC said, ‘Hell no, we’re not paying you that.’ Derrick Lewis, I believe, was ranked at the time and he said, ‘What? Jon would do this for 10? Give me a mil — I’ll fight Francis now.’”
Jon would not do it for 10 and Derrick didn’t ask for a mil.
Jones was in heated negotiations for an Ngannou super fight back in 2021 but told the promotion that $8-10 million was far too low for a pay-per-view (PPV) headliner against “The Predator.” Lewis, who was ranked No. 2 at the time, agreed to step up and rematch Ngannou for $8 million, no doubt a career-high payday for the “Black Beast.”
“It’s like, we cannot be doing that,” Holloway continued. “You need to be like, ‘Yeah, Jon!’ You needed to almost stand in Jon’s corner, be like, ‘Yeah, Jon, you deserve 10! Go get that 10!’ Because guess what? If you’re fighting for 10 then it looks like your base pay probably comes up to you too. So I hope that these new fighters coming in, just know your worth, man. The main thing I would say, know your worth, know what it is. It’s going to suck.”
His base pay went up anyway, even without the support of “Bones.”
There’s a better chance of more balanced payouts under the Paramount deal because the promotion no longer has PPV points to attract marquee names, which is how UFC lost the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight to Netflix. In addition, the UFC business model has always been, “eat what you kill.”
