Jared Cannonier vents on UFC pay: Fighters 'at the sh*t end of the stick'
· Yahoo Sports
Former UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier won't stay silent when the topic of fighter pay arises.
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
Cannonier (18-9 MMA, 11-9 UFC) has been in the UFC since 2015 when he was competing as a heavyweight. Now with 20 UFC fights under his belt and no plans of stopping soon, "The Killa Gorilla" wants to see fighters be paid more like professional athletes from other sports.
"The fighter pay conversation – yes, I would love to get paid more," Cannonier told Full Send MMA. "I would love all of us MMA fighters to get paid more. But, there's a big differentiation in skill level, even in the UFC. I think the UFC pays a lot based off merit, you know what I mean? How you perform, A. How you market yourself, B.
"Let me put it like this: I would like to get paid the way that other major – the highest-performing athletes in any sport gets paid. We're on TVs around the world, you know what I mean? We go through a lot just to make it to fight week. We lose a lot of money thats not coming to us. We used to get a lot of sponsors – we still get sponsors, but the changing of the landscape changed that for us, and it didn't leave us with much of anything at the end.
The UFC famously signed a seven-year deal with Paramount for $7.7 billion, which would have meant a massive windfall for its fighters had there been a fighters' union or association to fight for a fair revenue split. The UFC pays out approximately 17 percent of its revenue, while other major sporting organizations like the MLB, NBA and NFL pay closer to 50 percent. Those sports have player unions to fight for their fair share; however, fighters in the UFC have failed to generate a collective effort to make meaningful change across the board.
Cannonier is days away from entering his 21st fight under the UFC banner when he takes on Christian Leroy Duncan in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 281 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Paramount+). While he says he's not upset with his situation, he recognizes things should be different, and his checks should have an extra zero on them.
"Again, fighters are definitely at the sh*t end of the stick of this whole business, if you will," Cannonier said. "I think I should be getting paid – I should have million-dollar contracts. Not hundred-thousand-dollar contracts and stuff at the stage that I'm in, you know what I mean? I've been top 5, top 10 for about what, seven, eight years, I think? So, again, I'm not complaining, but this is definitely how I feel. I'm not gonna hold back in voicing my opinion in that.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jared Cannonier vents on UFC pay: Fighters 'at the sh*t end of the stick'