“They Are Robbing Their Fighters”: Despite Earning $387,000,000 in Profit, Dana White Thrashed Over Massive Pay Difference Between UFC, NFL, and NBA

The UFC and its president, Dana White, have been facing severe criticisms with regard to the fighters’ pay. A lot of fighters have come forward, voicing their dissatisfaction with the way they are being compensated for each fight. Recently, the promotion has lost one of its most celebrated Heavyweight champions, Francis Ngannou, to PFL owing to unsuccessful contract renegotiations. While the motive behind his move to ‘PFL’ was ‘freedom’ and not money, Ngannou is getting paid handsomely at the new promotion.

A recent post went viral across Twitter. In this post, the glaring discrepancy between the pay scale for NFL and NBA athletes, and UFC fighters, was brought to light – and it was massive. Taking into consideration the amount of work that each fighter has to put in for each main event, one could say that the earning for each fighter is considerably less compared to athletes from other sports.

Fans are divided on the immense pay difference between UFC, NFL, and NBA

The Twitter post displayed a three-sectioned picture wherein a tentative pay rate/compensation rate for athletes from different sports was mentioned. Apparently, the percentage of earnings paid to the athletes from the NBA and NFL are 50% and 48%, respectively, whereas the percentage of earnings paid to UFC fighters was a mere 13%. UFC fans wasted no time in protesting against this ‘injustice’.

Drawing attention to the big names of the sport and how they are paid handsomely, some fans took to slamming Dana White and UFC, no holds barred.

Many fans weren’t happy with the figures they saw.

However, some people had a different perspective and through their comments, they justified the lower pay scale.

One person commented, appreciating Dana White’s business acumen. 

Another jumped right in to draw a comparison between UFC and Boxing, talking about how ‘big purses’ ruined ‘big names’ while another comment spoke about the difference in viewership between the NBA, NFL, and SLAP.

Thus, a simple tweet led to a lot of discussion on Twitter.

Dana White and his pay scale – Too low, too high, or just about right?

UFC President Dana White has had to fend off uncomfortable questions about the salary of the average UFC fighter. Statistics and reports suggest that the UFC earned a profit of $387,000,000 in 2022, but the earnings of the fighters were not any different. Dana White had to face a lot of backlash for this.

However, an alternate theory suggests that there are other expenses that the company and the promotion have to bear. Also, being a relatively new sport that has only just gained popularity, it would be a bit unfair to compare the pay scale of different sports that have been around for ages.

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The questions are getting tougher and the numbers are coming out. What will Dana White do to thwart the disruptors? Will he increase the pay of the fighters or does he have a logical explanation for the current pay scale? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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