Ex-UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold goes off on UFC fighter pay
Luke Rockhold’s UFC profession goes all the best way again to the Strikeforce acquisition in 2013. He hasn’t been impressed with what has occurred to fighter pay within the time since.
With the UFC’s compensation within the information as soon as once more due to a Dana White quote (which he wishes people would stop aggregating), the previous UFC middleweight champion went off on the topic forward of his combat with Paulo Costa at UFC 278 later this month.
Rockhold particularly took subject with an absence of enhance in fighter pay relative to the UFC’s development lately and an absence of healthcare assist.
Rockhold’s reply:
“I like combating and I am right here to combat one of the best motherf***ers. This occurs to be the place the place it is achieved. The corporate is f***ing rising and so they’re implementing different little stupid-ass bonuses. $5,000 right here, $5,000 there. $50,000, man. We have been caught on this motherf***er for f***ing 20 f***ing years.”
“Again when [Georges St-Pierre] fought Jake [Shields], what was it, $100,000? It was rising. When Lorenzo and Frank [Fertitta] have been working the present, there was actual grounding wires. These guys, they do not know what they’re doing. They’re letting Dana simply run the present and suppress the game. They should develop, this complete f***ing factor must develop collectively.”
“Our lives are on the f***ing line. Healthcare must be taken care of. Our f***ing well being must be taken care of. Mine has not been taken care of. There’s quite a lot of issues that have to f***ing change, I am simply not going to be scared to say it. Everybody needs to get that title shot, they need to transfer up. I’ve f***ing achieved all of it.”
“Yeah, that is enterprise. Each enterprise is like this. It is about leverage. It is a sport of leverage and life. It is about all the time holding the higher hand. It isn’t simply right here, it is in all places. For those who let these motherf***ers suppose they’ve that leverage, it is solely going to develop above you. So it is simply folks understanding their price.”
There are various fighters who agree with Rockhold, most notable amongst them UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who has butted heads with the promotion and pursued other opportunities since capturing his belt.
Ngannou co-signed Rockhold’s statements on Twitter, particularly complaining about fighters’ incapability to usher in extra cash via sponsorships on account of UFC’s personal offers in place.
This complete dialog began when White mentioned fighter pay will increase have been “by no means gonna occur whereas I’m right here” in an interview final week with GQ.
Quite a few retailers picked up the quote and ran tales on it, a standard course of in fashionable media, however White had a serious bone to select within the fallout whereas talking with Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole:
“Fighter pay has gone via the roof because the sale in 2016. Fighter pay continues to go like this [raises hand].” So that you suppose I’ll sit there and go “fighter pay won’t ever go up whereas I am right here?’ That’s the dumbest f***ing factor I’ve ever heard.”
White is correct that fighter pay has gone up in parallel with the UFC’s income, although it nonetheless represents lower than a fifth of the place the promotion’s complete income goes, as Bloody Elbow laid out:
As Endeavor’s CFO Jason Lubin revealed through the incomes name, the UFC’s [compound annual growth rate] has been 21% a 12 months since 2005. Since we all know from disclosures within the Le et al v Zuffa, LLC antitrust lawsuit that the UFC’s revenues have been $48.3 million again then, a 21% CAGR would come out to $1.02 billion in 2021. This is able to match the marginally greater than $1 billion proven on Moody’s graph.
Lubin additionally disclosed that fighter pay had elevated 26% CAGR since 2005. Since we additionally know what complete fighter pay was in 2005 — $4.3 million — complete fighter pay would have been round $178.8 million final 12 months. That may be simply 17.5% of their complete income.
These numbers additionally do not mirror the difficulty Ngannou was harping on, because the UFC’s sponsorship offers forestall fighters from earning profits in different areas. As an alternative of having the ability to safe attire offers like NBA gamers get with shoe offers, UFC fighters enter the Octagon clad in Venum attire.
How a lot fighters get from that Venum deal is dependent upon their expertise. Compensation ranges from $4,000 per combat for first-time UFC fighters to $42,000 for champions. Corporations would nearly assuredly pay extra to have their emblem seen on an UFC coming into champion.
