UFC president Dana White has no plans to dramatically increase fighter pay as long as he is in charge of the organization.
“Believe me, these guys get paid what they’re supposed to get paid,” White told GQ in a video published Thursday. “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.”
UFC reportedly pays fighters 20 percent of its revenue — a significantly smaller portion than other major sports leagues, which are unionized and receive roughly 50 percent shares. UFC fighters, meanwhile, are designated as independent contractors.
“There aren’t too many things you can talk s–t about the UFC about,” White continued. “If you look at what we’ve done with the business the last 22 years, it’s incredible. Never been done, ever, the things we’ve done in the fight business. You always have to have something to bitch about, I guess. And fighters always want to make more money.”
Dana White is staunchly against raising fighter pay. Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWhite’s comments come in the wake of calls for increased payouts from a number of notable faces, including YouTube star and boxer Jake Paul, who implored White to “pay your fighters more” in a music video.
White, clearly, has no intention of obliging.
“Boxing has absolutely been destroyed because of money and all the things that go on,” White said, alluding to Paul. “It’s never gonna happen while I’m here.”
In response to White’s comments, Paul tweeted: “No major sports organization pays its athletes as poorly as Dana White and UFC.”
