SUMMARY
- In one of the episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast, he discussed the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the UFC.
- Joe Rogan defends Dana White and the UFC in an antitrust lawsuit instead of the fighters.
The UFC has always made headlines with upcoming events and its growth in numbers. Some of the headlines aren’t in favor of the promotion. Usually concerning fighter pay and the extreme business tactics used by the organization. In his recent podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan discussed the ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the promotion with fellow guest and former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub.
The two were in conversation about the details of the allegations and how they might affect the organization and fighters. The lawsuit against the UFC covers bouts that took place or were broadcast in the U.S. from December 16, 2016, to June 30, 2017. This overall state of compensation ranges from $800 million to $1.6 billion for the fighters involved.
Rogan stated, “I understand if you want to go to Bellator they pay you more money…what I’m saying is if you want to be the best in the world you want to be the most famous motherfu****….you have to fight in the UFC”. Taking the UFC’s side as the premier organization in combat sports. With the upcoming historic UFC 300 card and the lawsuit getting more buzz, it doesn’t put the promotion in a good light.
Joe Rogan defends Dana White and the UFC in anti-trust lawsuit
The anti-trust lawsuit includes a list of more than 1200 UFC fighters, including notable names such as Jon Fitch, Cung Le, Brandon Vera, Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury. It was filed in 2014 against unjust business tactics used by the organizational top-tier management. Through exploiting the fighters, who are the actual foundation of the business.
Thrilled to announce that the court in the UFC case has certified the class of mma fighters. We look forward to demonstrating our allegations that the UFC has abused its market power to suppress fighter pay before a jury in Las Vegas. The fight for fighter justice continues!
— Eric Cramer (@CramerEcramer) August 9, 2023
Rogan defended the UFC, and Dana White claimed that as a business, it has to be ruthless in making profits. Adding to that, things could be resolved by bringing in more sponsors. And giving them the option to choose their particular preference of fighters as per their niche for promotion.
Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub argue about UFC’s monopoly and fighter pay
The UFC was also accused of creating a monopoly in combat sports promotions by buying and shutting down its competition. Joe Rogan agreed to it, taking the example of Strikeforce, which was bought by the promotion. He further denied it to be a monopoly, comparing it to NBA and YouTube businesses. According to him, it can be considered a monopoly by those standards.
Dana White talks fighter pay.
Full podcast here:https://t.co/oTJisoLOfk pic.twitter.com/MWsKN91Vd9
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 30, 2024
His guest, Brendan Schaub, shared his opinion on the issue and how other sports contributed around 50% of their profits towards their players, while the UFC only averaged about 14%. UFC president Dana White has often been confronted by the media, fans, and fighters about the pay structure. Moreover, it is often seen that he has always defended it, attributing it to be the business model.