Lorenzo Fertitta on ESPN fighters ($$ issue)

Damage control by the UFC. Comparing the salaries of the world's number 1 organization that sells millions of PPVs a year to a show that barely anyone watches. :rofl: The funny part is the fans are actually buying it. It is like comparing HBO to ESPN.

Damage control by the UFC. Comparing the salaries of the world's number 1 organization that sells millions of PPVs a year to a show that barely anyone watches. :rofl: The funny part is the fans are actually buying it.

That's funny comparing ESPN2 boxing which usually pays a license fee of 20k per show against the supposed fastest growing sport in the world. Why not compare those $hitty MMA shows on Indian reservations that probably pay guys $50 bucks and a six pack of natty lights to the lowest pay in Boxing? Well because ESPN boxing is the topic at hand If you want to compare UFC pay with boxing compare it to HBO/Showtime level and PPV level, this is all spin by the UFC which they are great at doing BTW. Smoke and mirrors to distract the public and the fans to how badly they are raping their fighters. But are they really raping their fighters when the UFC as a promoter has proven time and time again that they are directly responsible for generating a lot of revenue with PPV buys and fight gates? Case in point. Brock Lesnar's first MMA fight did 35,000 ppv buys. His second was with the UFC and did 600,000 buys. I would say UFC easily deserves a lion share of the money. If MMA was that popular on a whole then why hasn't there been a fighter been able to generate a lot of money on his own? Why are all the other promotions in the red and now defunked? Why did Pride pull in 40,000 ppv buys in the US for their first live PPV despite having talent like Fedor, Shogun, Henderson, Barnett, Belfort all on the same card? Why was Fedor only able to generate 100,000 PPV buys for Affliction? We all know if the UFC had Fedor in a title fight against Couture or Lesar they would have done great numbers. Another thing is some of those four round fighters(Not all of them but it happens) are fighting 6-10 times a year and some young fighters/prospects have an allowance from the promoter or manager. The promoter/manager will pay you lets say $1000 a month as an investment so you won't be starving while you're being built up. The UFC fighters are tied down to the UFC and hardly ever fight more then 3 times a year, plus the whole UFC is set up so that the promoter is 100% in control. At the end of the day you're not making much either way if you're an up and comer. Whether its for the UFC or for some boxing promoter that is giving you allowance of $1000 a month. One thing about Floyd whether you like the guy or hate him he's his own boss. He doesn't answer to no one and the promoter works for him. In the UFC you are the slave and if you ain't kissing billionaire ass 24/7 you might get cut, not get any bonus pay or the push needed to get you out of the prelims. Right but Floyd is able to sell and promote any fight event with any promoter. MMA fighters can't do that because the only promotion that currently makes a lot of money is the UFC. That why the UFC is able to "rape their fighters".

You can't just compare boxing to UFC. Remember that UFC is an MMA company. Yes, they are the face of the UFC, but it is better to compare boxing to whole MMA, not just UFC. As far as those 4 round fights in boxing, its not surprising that boxers get paid that $200 something pay. Maxim magazine had a small profile of a prospect boxer that was making less than 1,000 dollars a fight. That boxer also suffered a setback(lost a fight). Boxing is not just a 4 round fight, it is only for the prospects. If you keep winning, eventually you will fight 12 rounds and earn more. I read also in interviews of MMA fighters that they were earning $300 a fight when they first started on smaller organizations. With UFC, they are building their own stars or already a star in other organizations(such as the former Pride, Strike Force, WEC).

I am calling BS on that comment of fighters or a fighter only making $200 for fighting on ESPN. I knew a guy from our gym that made his pro debut in Ft. Worth last year on the Sergio Mora-Bryan Vera card. He was the opening bout of the card and wasnt televised and he was paid $1,500 and it was a 4 round fight. Wasn't that a Golden Boy card? You'd think shows that are put on by big promoters would pay their fighters more money. The guys who make $200 a fight are probably signed with small no name promoters who don't have a lot of money. This isn't really surprising, imo.

Why doesn't dana compare how much he pays his top guys like brock to boxers like berto,p.williams and paulie? All those guys have made bigger pay days than brock you know that guy brock right?...the biggest draw that company had lol What a fu*king joke

You don't find a little bit of irony that ESPN is doing a money piece on the UFC and they are showing live fights themselves with guys getting paid basically nothing? Its hilarious that Rafael thinks its ok because its "out of ESPN's hands" since the promoters can freely choose to spend the money how they see it. Do the under card UFC fighters sell $6,000 worth of tickets and PPV buys? Nope. the money is not what it is about smh these fighters are getting national exposure, and alot of times people at the beginning end up fighting for free with how the ticket sales go, thats why people sign to promoters and get a salary when they train

That's funny comparing ESPN2 boxing which usually pays a license fee of 20k per show against the supposed fastest growing sport in the world. Why not compare those $hitty MMA shows on Indian reservations that probably pay guys $50 bucks and a six pack of natty lights to the lowest pay in Boxing? If you want to compare UFC pay with boxing compare it to HBO/Showtime level and PPV level, this is all spin by the UFC which they are great at doing BTW. Smoke and mirrors to distract the public and the fans to how badly they are raping their fighters. Another thing is some of those four round fighters(Not all of them but it happens) are fighting 6-10 times a year and some young fighters/prospects have an allowance from the promoter or manager. The promoter/manager will pay you lets say $1000 a month as an investment so you won't be starving while you're being built up. The UFC fighters are tied down to the UFC and hardly ever fight more then 3 times a year, plus the whole UFC is set up so that the promoter is 100% in control. One thing about Floyd whether you like the guy or hate him he's his own boss. He doesn't answer to no one and the promoter works for him. In the UFC you are the slave and if you ain't kissing billionaire ass 24/7 you might get cut, not get any bonus pay or the push needed to get you out of the prelims.

Dont care, ESPN can expose all of it and they should if it warrants it. They can expose it, but they need to investigate themselves. Why doesn't ESPN do one on Top Rank?

20-30 times more percentage wise? Try money wise See this all has to be based on the percentage of what give out, from what they make. Not really, UFC is routinely giving out $60-100k bonuses for KOs and submissions. Plus UFC has health insurance for these guys up to $50,000.

I am calling BS on that comment of fighters or a fighter only making $200 for fighting on ESPN. I knew a guy from our gym that made his pro debut in Ft. Worth last year on the Sergio Mora-Bryan Vera card. He was the opening bout of the card and wasnt televised and he was paid $1,500 and it was a 4 round fight.

Not much at all......but if the UFC is paying their bottom guys 20-30 times more than fighters that are being broadcast on ESPN, you don't see its a little silly ESPN doing a low pay special on the UFC? Why doesn't ESPN do one on Top Rank? Also doesn't the UFC have health insurance as well? 20-30 times more percentage wise? See this all has to be based on the percentage of what give out, from what they make. And I guess we wont know till we get that information.

How much Money does these little events ESPN show pull in? Not much at all......but if the UFC is paying their bottom guys 20-30 times more than fighters that are being broadcast on ESPN, you don't see its a little silly ESPN doing a low pay special on the UFC? Why doesn't ESPN do one on Top Rank? Also doesn't the UFC have health insurance as well?

It is like Dan said, ESPN give the money to the promoter and the promoter split the money between fighters Rightttt...and how many stories on low fighter pay has ESPN done on any of these promoters they work with?

You don't find a little bit of irony that ESPN is doing a money piece on the UFC and they are showing live fights themselves with guys getting paid basically nothing? Its hilarious that Rafael thinks its ok because its "out of ESPN's hands" since the promoters can freely choose to spend the money how they see it. Do the under card UFC fighters sell $6,000 worth of tickets and PPV buys? Nope. How much Money does these little events ESPN show pull in? Dont care, ESPN can expose all of it and they should if it warrants it.

Nobody is making $200 for a fight thats total BS. The least you can get is $800 for a 4 round fight!!

they ain't called cabdrivers for no reason. motherfuckers need 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make a living.

It is like Dan said, ESPN give the money to the promoter and the promoter split the money between fighters

Uh.... I thought this was common knowledge? People act like boxers get paid so much, the f*ck they do. The only difference is there's a bigger gap of pay in boxing so while there is a fighter who gets paid 200 bucks a bout you have Floyd Mayweather who makes 30 or 40 mill. UFC is different in that the pay gap between the main event and the under cards is much smaller. But yes top boxers get paid more than top UFC fighters, although that's just one facet of the argument. And again UFC has not been around as long as boxing, it soared to huge success over the recent years and they're exponentially paying their fighters more as they get bigger. Oh and they don't have 1/4 of the politics that boxing has, they actually make the majority of the fights fans want to see.

If what is true? that FNF's that puts on weekly shows with mostly no names on a small budget dont pay fighters Millions? His comparison is off. The UFC the #1 MMA outlet makes millions and the percentage the fighters get out of it, are low. Its that simple. edit.. Rafael is killing it. You don't find a little bit of irony that ESPN is doing a money piece on the UFC and they are showing live fights themselves with guys getting paid basically nothing? Its hilarious that Rafael thinks its ok because its "out of ESPN's hands" since the promoters can freely choose to spend the money how they see it. Do the under card UFC fighters sell $6,000 worth of tickets and PPV buys? Nope.