Fighter salaries are a major topic at the moment with many UFC competitors angry over the amount of money they currently make. The UFC has three salary tiers it pays competitors for their fights.
The UFC signs competitors to contracts for a specified number of bouts at a fixed salary for each fight with a sliding scale enable competitors to move up or down.
Fighters can receive bonuses for meeting certain criteria in their bouts. However, a fighter’s performance is determined by the fight promotion and bonuses are given out at the UFC’s discretion.
UFC 281 will see Israel Adesanya versus Alex Pereira. Before betting on UFC 281’s main event, you can explore international betting sites that accept MPESA before wagering on the winner of Adesanya and Pereira.
The UFC employs three payment tiers. The promotion uses high, medium, and low as the tiers for paying its competitors. The highest payment tier is between $500,000 and $3 million a fight. The highest tier features a limited number of fighters compared to the other tiers. Conor McGregor is one fighter UFC helped make rich. However, the Irishman likely made more money off endorsements than on actual matches.
The middle tier for fighters is between $80,000 and $250,000 per match. The lowest payment tier is between $10,000 and $30,000 a bout. The UFC typically gives new fighters its lowest salary tier. A fighter can receive a new contract by winning fights and moving up the standings. UFC fighters can start at the lowest tier and build up to the highest tier over time. It can take time for a fighter to improve their reputation and reach the highest payment tier.
Fighters can gain lucrative contracts based on their popularity. In addition, a fighter could receive a bonus that doubles their pay for a fight.
The UFC is currently under scrutiny for paying its fighters too little. The MMA promotion pays fighters just 16% to 20% of its total revenue. The NBA pays its players 50% of the total revenue.
Some MMA fighters have left the UFC to participate in boxing or professional wrestling to make more money. Fighters have criticized the UFC for taking advantage of fighters while paying them a small fee for putting their lives on the line. In February 2022, the UFC was worth an estimated $5 billion.
In a 2022 interview, retired UFC fighter Uriah Hall spoke about the difference in pay. The UFC pays its ring girls, who carry the numbered cards around between rounds, $70,000 per show. Fighters, on the other hand, get just $10,00 at the lowest tier.
Hall is one of the UFC’s former competitors to leave the promotion due to finances. He is now boxing after compiling a UFC record of 17-11.
UFC fighters don’t receive the entire fee following a match. Fighters must pay taxes on the money they earn. Once the tax is taken out, fighters will need to pay their trainers, sparing partners, and other individuals that help them train.