Dana White insists UFC fighters ‘get paid what they’re supposed to’…Jake Paul hits back

UFC president Dana White has stated that he will not increase the amount his fighters are paid, despite previous outcries from those inside and outside the sport.

White went on to say he believes high profile boxers are overpaid and criticized the impact boxing has had on other combat sports. 

‘Boxing has absolutely been destroyed, because of money and all the things that go on,’ White said. ‘It’s never gonna happen while I’m here. Believe me, these guys get paid what they’re supposed to get paid. They eat what they kill. 

‘They get a percentage of the pay-per-view buys. And the money is spread out amongst all the fighters.’

Youtuber Jake Paul, who has recently won several high profile exhibition boxing matches, took to social media after seeing White’s comments in GQ.

‘No major sports organization pays its athletes as poorly as Dana White & UFC,’ Paul tweeted. ‘If u don’t see that then you are one of Dana’s sheeps. They keep talking about selling out 21 events in a row but never talking about raising fighter pay, giving them healthcare & fair revenue split.’ 

Paul is yet to compete in any type of official match against a professional boxer but has garnered large quantities of pay-per-view fights in his exhibitions against former NBA player Nate Robinson, ex-UFC fighter Ben Askren, and former UFC champion Tyron Woodley. 

Askren has spent most of his career honing and utilizing his mat wrestling skills. Woodley had appeared well past his prime during his last few UFC fights, leaving many to wonder if he would even step into the octagon again before retirement.

The UFC only pays its fighters around 20 percent of the sport’s overall revenue, which in comparison to other major sports is very low. Leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB share almost half of the league’s revenue with players.

This lack of revenue split not only motivated a group of former UFC fighters to file a anti-trust lawsuit against the UFC back in 2014. The lawsuit was since upgraded to a class action suit in 2020 . It has also led to some of the sport’s biggest names exploring options outside of the UFC and mixed martial arts world.

Well-noted former UFC champion Conor McGregor has already entered the boxing ring previously to fight undefeated Hall of Famer Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather in a highly-grossing megafight.

Inaugural UFC ‘BMF’ Championship Jorge Masvidal and other members of American Top Team have made several appearances on for All Elite Wrestling, appearing on both of the companies’ shows, Dynamite and Rampage. 

‘The UFC has established a pay structure that pays fighters less than 20% of revenue,’ MMAFA founder Rob Maysey told ESPN. ‘The only way to determine what fighters are “supposed to get paid” is to remove the contractual restraints the UFC imposes and bring true competition for fighter services to the market.’

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has also voiced his issues with the way the UFC pays fighter and told reporters after UFC 270 in January that he would not fight again in the UFC again under his current contract.

‘I will not fight for $500,000 [or] $600,000 anymore,’ he said. ‘It’s over. I took this fight for personal reasons, because I want to make sure that regardless of [whether] it’s fair, I can make my case that I have completed the fights.’

The dispute would go on to turn ugly as White called Ngannou’s management incompetent.