While at a press conference for a new training campus they’re building in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta commented on how much UFC pays their fighters.
“That’s always going to be an issue,” Fertitta told the assembled media. “If we distributed 200% of our revenues, people would be complaining about fighter pay. The fact of the matter is, fighter pay has continued to increase every single year that we’ve owned the company.”
Feritta claimed that the UFC pays fighters more than any other promotion in the world.
“We pay way more than anybody else in the space, that’s a factor. You do have some fighters that maybe aren’t happy with what they get, but at the end of the day, the fighters that achieve great things in this sport and get to the level of actually making a career of it, you don’t see many of those athletes complaining. That’s the fact of the matter.”
Fertitta acknowledged that only the top fighters make big money.
“The guys who are rising to the top are making the majority of the money.”
“Relative to this, we’re making an investment in the future, so that the company can continue to go on and achieve bigger things so that the revenue will continue to grow. Obviously that will continue to flow down to the fighters, so this is no different than any other business.”
UFC’s Reebok sponsorship deal has reportedly put a financial crunch on some fighters who are used to getting their own sponsors for their fight gear.
Related: Johnny Case On UFC Reebok Deal: “I’m Definitely Not Happy With It Financially”
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