Payments received by several UFC fighters such as Conor McGregor from 2011 to 2016 were revealed a few days ago. Although the names of the fighters are not revealed there are several parameters that have been used by experts to find out which fighters have received what amount.
A UFC pay per view costed $59.99 in 2015-2016, McGregor sold 6.2M PPV and got 25M when he generated 372M
That mean Conor McGregor was only paid 6.7% of the revenue from the UFC 😂🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/7ajNLeISmn
— Aqua 🦆 (@AquaFighting) November 2, 2023
Bloody Elbow first reported the payments received by McGregor, Ronda Rousey, CM Punk, and Jon Jones, among others. However, a detail has come to light about how underpaid McGregor is in comparison to how much money he has brought in. It was calculated that McGregor brought in about $372 million in six years and in that time period, he has received only around $25 million. Fans have shown outrage over this anomaly.
One fan slammed UFC CEO Dana White. They wrote, “Dana doesn’t deserve Conor. That bald f*ck will pay for his sins.”
Dana doesn’t deserve Conor. That bald fuck will pay for his sins.
— notNotorious (@Notori6us) November 2, 2023
Another fan wrote, “Brother… Conor got fleeced. Bro generated clear of $300m in PPVs and gates alone and quadrupled the UFC’s valuation during that time to around $8b. Insane stuff. That’s actually shocking man. Glad he was still able to cash the f*ck out with the Propa. Blimey!”
Meanwhile, one fan called it an “Absolute robbery.”
Let’s understand in detail how much McGregor earned in the time period and how much money he raked in for the UFC.
Conor McGregor earned around $25 million in 2011-2016 and was the highest earner in the UFC
Experts were hired by a group of fighters to file a case against the UFC for alleged anti-competitive practices. Zuffa, the owners of UFC until 2016, countered by hiring anti-trust expert Robert Blair. He prepared a report that included the year, the payouts received by fighters, and the number of fighters that received these payments for their UFC fights.
The names of the fighters were not mentioned. However, cross-referencing and historical data were used by Bloody Elbow to figure out the intricate details.
From 2011 to 2016, McGregor fought in five PPVs. In UFC 189, Conor McGregor’s reported earnings were $2,642,204 or $3,285,000. McGregor’s base pay for that fight was $500,000, and he received a discretionary bonus of $2.11 million, as reported by John Nash of Bloody Elbow.
Moving on to UFC 194, McGregor’s disclosed earnings came to a total of $4,476,662 or $4,536,932. Initially, McGregor’s base pay was $500,000, while his opponent, Jose Aldo, had a base pay of $400,000.
In the case of UFC 196, McGregor’s reported earnings were $5,576,315. His disclosed base pay was $1,000,000, and Nate Diaz, his opponent, had a base pay of $500,000.
Bloody Elbow are reporting Conor McGregor & Nate Diaz were paid a combined $18.2M for their headline bouts at UFC 196/202.
The PPVs are estimated to have sold a total 3M buys. That revenue would be approx $160M based on pricing at the time. pic.twitter.com/vCm24NzwiN
— Andy Hickey MMA (@AndyHickeyMMA) November 2, 2023
For UFC 202, McGregor’s total reported earnings were $5,615,490, and his disclosed base pay was $3,000,000. Diaz, who fought him for the second time, had a base pay of $2,000,000. Lastly, in UFC 205, Conor McGregor’s reported earnings added up to $6,812,374.
Many UFC fighters including Francis Ngannou left the promotion due to low pay
Former UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, is a prime example of fighters being unhappy with UFC’s low pay and rigid contracts. Ngannou officially left the UFC in January of 2023. During ‘The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani’ Ngannou opened up about his long contract negotiations with the company.
“In that contract, I’m not free,” Ngannou said. “In that contract, I’m not an independent contractor. In that contract, I have no rights, I have no power. I hand over all the power to you guys, and I’ve seen in the past how you can utilize that power.”
Francis Ngannou 🇨🇲 rejected an offer to become the UFC’s highest paid Heavyweight Fighter.
He requested for health insurance, right to sponsorship, a 3-fight deal and advocates to represent all fighters in meetings.
He has been released, and is the former Heavyweight Champion. pic.twitter.com/xEAY3e3k3G
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) February 14, 2023
The Cameroonian also asked for fighters to get in-cage sponsorships and health insurance.
“How about those guys at the bottom?” Ngannou said. “They can’t really afford that health insurance. I have been there, so it’s something I still carry in my heart.”
According to a report by Bloody Elbow, UFC pays its fighters 17%-18% of its total revenues from PPVs. In comparison, the PFL announced that its fighter pay was “somewhere in the neighborhood of 50%” of total revenue. Bloody Elbow also reported that fighters including Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Andrei Arlovski left the promotion once to earn better purses.
“They eat what they kill.” Dana White on fighter pay. This is him admitting that the bare minimum is enough for fighters in his eyes. The fighters ARE the sport. UFC needs to change.
— smallGentles (@chunkyeez) August 21, 2022
However, in August 2022, UFC CEO White claimed that fighter purses will not increase till he is there. In an interview with GQ, he claimed, “They eat what they kill.” He also said that the fighters get an adequate percentage of the PPV earnings.