“Controls them more” Canelo takes veiled swipe at Dana White while talking about MMA-Boxing pay disparity
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Canelo (L), Dana White (R)
Fighter pay has always been a relevant and fiery topic of discussion and deliberation among the MMA community. The central tenants of the argument revolve around the stake of the fighter involved, and a disparate material return.
While the top brass of the biggest MMA organizations, including the UFC, Bellator and PFL maintain that the fighters contracted to them are being given a fair pay day, many other instances of experts or fighters themselves have come forward to refute their claims.
Recently, at UFC 278, ex-middleweight champion Luke Rockhold took the issue up in the media scrums and the press conference, in quite the brazen manner.
The main issue seems to be that the fighters at the bottom of the cards in fights, reportedly make somewhere around $12,000 to $15,000 per fight. Assuming they fight thrice a year, their payout reached a maximum of $50,000. From this figure, they must pay their coaches, pay their health and other hospital bills. Thus, many fighters resort to having two jobs.
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“The MMA fighters know why they get paid less” Canelo dishes on MMA fighters understanding what hinders them from being paid proportionately
Despite many fighters coming forward to talk about being paid less than they deserve, and struggling to make ends meet, Dana White, the President of the UFC remains defiant in the face of adamant pressure.
In a recent interview with GQ, the head of the promotion had this to say: “Believe me, these guys get paid what they’re supposed to get paid. 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.”
The UFC president, thus remains unabashed in saying that his fighters are paid what they should be paid. But what about an elite boxer giving us an insight into the matter? Recently, Canelo Alvarez spoke about the matter, when asked, “Why are boxers still paid more than MMA fighters?”
In a well thought of reply, he said, “I think in general, boxers don’t earn the same..each one earns differently. But, yes, I think boxers earn more.” Dishing on why he thinks this is the case, he spoke, “I think in MMA, there is only one promoter, one company that I think controls them more.” In an additional casual dig, he said, “The MMA fighters know why they are paid less.”
Canelo answers:
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) September 16, 2022
Why are boxers still paid more than MMA fighters?pic.twitter.com/YB7gmj2YLw
These comments from the elite boxer are arguably directed at the one promoter, and the one company that is synonymous with the sport of mixed martial arts – Dana White (and Hunter Campbell) and the UFC. What Canelo is trying to reach at is that, under several promoters, boxers can negotiate their contracts and deal a little better than they can with the UFC’s contractual team.
Dana White usually lambasts comments about fighter pay – however, Canelo Alvarez is simply too big a name to just discredit. We will have to wait and see White’s reaction to these words.
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Udayan Mukherjee
(382 Articles Published)