UFC documents reveal Dana White’s reaction to women and other fighters’ backlash to CM Punk earning $500,000 in first fight

CM Punk made his MMA debut in 2016 against Mickey Gall.

UFC documents reveal Dana White’s reaction to women and other fighters’ backlash to CM Punk earning $500,000 in first fight

Dana White on CM Punk's fight purse (Image via: IMAGO, Instagram)

Dana White and the UFC at present face a class action anti-trust lawsuit with the defendants claiming billions in damages. Judge Richard Franklin Boulware II, who presides over the case, recently ordered to open a lot of sealed documents. The fight purse of many fighters in the UFC became public after the order by the judge.

The revealed documents had several surprising information. MMA Fighting’s Steven Marrocco recently reported Dana White’s reaction to the backlash from Phil Brooks‘ fighter pay. Brooks, a WWE Star, popularly known as CM Punk, made $500,000 in his first fight. This is what White said in a 2017 deposition.

We had some guy that was — that was paid a certain amount of money and never — oh, the professional wrestler that we brought in. Not Brock [Lesnar], the other one[CM Punk]...People went cr*zy when they saw what he got paid. ... Even the women.
Dana White in a 2017 deposition
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Many UFC fighters have criticized the pay of Brooks on his MMA debut at the time. Cat Zingano and Rafael Dos Anjos were at the forefront of it. Zingano bashed the UFC for the payment but Dos Anjos did not find it wrong. However, he urged the UFC to pay all the champions the same as Brooks’ purse.

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CM Punk fought twice in the UFC and is 0-1(1). He lost his debut to Mickey Gall by first-round rear-naked choke submission. Moreover, he lost his second fight to Mike Jackson via unanimous decision but the commission overturned the result to a No Contest after Jackson tested positive for Marijuana.

Related: Dana White’s UFC face $1.6 Billion in damages as judges deny appeal in anti-trust lawsuit case

CM Punk’s actual fight purse at UFC 203

CM Punk was one of the biggest stars in WWE. Fans highly anticipated his UFC debut against Mickey Gall. Nevertheless, he was a big betting underdog in the fight. Like the odds, the fight ended quickly in round 1 via submission.

CM Punk
CM Punk (via Wrestle Talk)

CM Punk’s purse for the fight was $500,000. However, according to an expert report, the pay was bigger than $1 million. After the court released documents in the anti-trust lawsuit, $1,042,736 was the take-home salary of CM Punk for UFC 203. He got PPV points and additional incentives for the fight.

After a two-fight stint in the UFC, Phil Brooks went back to professional wrestling. He did not immediately go back to WWE as he signed with the rival promotion, AEW. However, after a recent tussle with Tony Khan, the President of AEW, Brooks returned to WWE.

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