Former UFC lightweight champion and current ONE Championship fighter, Eddie Alvarez, has been speaking out on fighter pay.
Much has been made over how MMA fighters are treated. From accusations of shady matchmakers to low pay, combat sports athletes are starting to be more vocal. Alvarez is seeing the stories pile up and he wishes the issues came to light sooner.
Eddie Alvarez Wishes Fighters Spoke Out Sooner
Alvarez took to his Twitter account to weigh in on the issue of fighter pay in MMA.
“No1 listened to me when I left and explain that fighters need Better pay. Now the largest names in the sport are speaking out , I love this sport and the promotions that provides our stages . But understand that it is Just a Stage! without the men n women willing to fight on it.
“Fighters have the ability to fill an arena and home audience . We also have the ability to leave a stage empty with nothing … I wish more fighters understood how valuable they are , and glad that some are recognizing their worth.”
One of the most vocal fighters on pay has been Gray Maynard. “The Bully” only made $26,000 in base pay for his first UFC lightweight title opportunity. Maynard claimed the UFC gave him $100,000 in “hush money.” Maynard says he would’ve been paying to receive the title shot had he only been given the base pay. Eventually, the “hush money” stopped rolling in and Maynard began to question if he’d ever get ahead in the sport of MMA.
As far as bigger stars of the sport are concerned, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal haven’t been happy. Jones has threatened to vacate his light heavyweight title unless he’s given a satisfactory offer. Masvidal wasn’t happy when he was offered half of what he made fighting Nate Diaz for a welterweight title bout against Kamaru Usman. Masvidal declined the UFC’s deal.
