UFCheap? Ngannou Upset Over Paul Payout

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou wants to know why Logan Paul, 0-1 as a professional boxer, will earn upward of $20 million for his exhibition bout against boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr., which took place last Sunday night (June 6) in Miami.

“It’s crazy to think that Logan Paul (0-1) just made $20M on a boxing exhibition,” Ngannou wrote on Twitter. “WHAT ARE WE DOING WRONG?”

Welcome to prize fighting.

UFC is a brand, not a sport, and just like any major company the brand always comes first. In addition, Paul and his brother Jake are far more popular than most MMA fighters and know how to leverage their fanbase for maximum returns.

It also helps to be paired with the biggest moneymaker in combat sports.

“Money” changed the life of Conor McGregor after their boxing showdown in summer 2017. Though to be fair, if the Paul brothers had contracts with Showtime Sports and were obligated to compete three times a year like most UFC fighters, their payouts would drop significantly.

As would casual interest in their boxing exploits.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been trying to take a stand and fight for better pay, but he’ll never make any progress when fellow fighters like Derrick Lewis are willing to fight for a fraction of what he wants (and in many ways deserves).

As for Ngannou, he recently earned $500,000 for stopping Stipe Miocic at UFC 260.