Midnight Mania! 5% More For Fighters Won’t Bankrupt UFC

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Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC fighter pay is an issue unlikely to go away anytime soon.

Jake Paul raises the topic at every occasion, but the loudmouth “Problem Child” is merely stating the obvious. When UFC is reporting record profits and has guaranteed money coming in from the ESPN broadcasting deal, it’s hard to believe that undercard fighters are still only making $10k to get their skulls pummeled on the world’s largest stage.

Of course, undercard athletes aren’t the only ones being underpaid. UFC offers its athletes a smaller percentage of its overall revenue than most other major sports leagues, which affects everyone, even champions. While talking with MMA Junkie, Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling argued UFC could stand to share a bit more of the pie.

“It’s just the business aspect. They want to pay us less, we always want to get paid more. And we all rightfully think that there’s more money that could be divvied out to the fighters because of how much money they clear,” Sterling said (via BloodyElbow).

“It’s a public company, so we get to see those numbers,” he continued. “You mean to tell me if you gave us an extra 5% that’s gonna kill you guys? …an extra 5% of upwards of 900 million? I don’t know the exact number, upwards of over 800 million dollars? …I think you guys will survive. I think that’s the best way I could put that. It’s not being greedy.”

Sterling also mentioned that increased pay results in fewer professional fighters with side jobs, meaning better performances. He also argues that increasing the performance bonuses would encourage more aggressive finish-chasing.

Ultimately, the march towards improved fighter pay remains an uphill battle, but there has been some progress. For example, the recent Crypto.com bonuses are a new source of revenue for athletes, though the fan voted nature of those prizes do complicate the matter.

Six Weeks Of Self-Promotion

Three weeks into camp, my planned opponent was forced to withdraw due to visa issues. I’ve already accepted one possible replacement foe, but well, y’all know how it goes … the plan is still to compete at Urijah Faber’s A-1 Combat promotion in Sacramento, California on May 28.

Classic MMA.

As with all my pro fights, I raise funds to cover camp costs/actually make a profit via the fight banner. $5 or more gets your name/screen name/nickname on the fight banner, and it enters you into a raffle to win the banner itself. Payment options include venmo: AndyLRichardson (1572), PayPal, or the latest GoFundMe page. Complete details are HERE!

I hugely appreciate the MMAMania community support (financial or otherwise) for both my writing and fighting careers. Thank you!

Insomnia

Yoel Romero, MMA innovator.

Heavy is the head that wears the … chain?

Yup, this is really impressive!

Every day I wake up surprised that the UFC women’s Featherweight division still exists.

“There is three things in life that excite me. There’s a woman of course, dinosaurs and the violence of the Octagon.” — Georges St. Pierre

Dominick Cruz knows more about injuries in MMA than most.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

If you missed UFC 268 and didn’t track down footage of Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje afterward, today’s your luck day! Relive perhaps the best fight of 2021:

Earlier this morning, Liam Harrison pulled off one of the coldest comeback wins of all time. LEGEND!

Jessica Andrade is quite simply built different.

Random Land

Enjoy Earth Day and do your best to treat our planet well.

Midnight Music: New Pusha T! Scratch that, new CLIPSE?!?

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.