Dana White stands firm on not increasing UFC base pay despite ongoing arguments

Dana White is standing firm on not paying UFC newcomers more than they currently get.

More than ever before, UFC fighter pay came into question earlier this year when the promotion began its new $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount.

Despite that, UFC boss Dana White introduced new bonus schemes with post-fight bonuses like Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night being doubled to $100,000, with wins earning fighters an additional $25,000.

However, fans still believe UFC fighter pay is extremely lower than where it should be, especially with new players MVP MMA coming and and providing a higher base pay than them.

Dana White claims fighter pay will continue going up if the UFC continues being successful

The argument of UFC fighter pay has become even more poignant over the last few months with the emergence of MVP MMA.

For their returns to MMA, Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano earned a record for the most amount of money female MMA fighters have ever earned.

And to highlight UFC fighter pay even further, recently the Women’s National Basketball League agreed to a new salary minimum of around $270,000, which is substantially more than what a UFC fighter on their first contract would be making.

Despite that, though, Dana White is standing firm on the UFC base contracts, asking why he should pay someone more when he doesn’t even know if they are UFC caliber yet.

“When people talk about that, do you know what they don’t compare it to? What a guy makes when he fights his first boxing event,” White said in an interview with Rolling Stone.

“The difference is because we look like a league, or however you want to look at us, we’re not a one off promoter doing a fight, some of these guys make $100 for one round in boxing.

“If you look at the deal we just cut with Paramount, imagine how it’s going to look in the next seven years. Fighter pay has continuously gone up every year and it will continue to go up as long as we continue to be successful. But to compare it to the WNBA is ridiculous.

“Let’s say you sign a three-fight deal, we’re gonna find out if you even belong in the UFC, so I should pay you $370,000 to see if you belong in the UFC?”

At this moment, fighters who are signed to their first UFC contract could be earning as little as $10,000 to show, with an additional $10,000 if they win their bout.

“(The base pay) has increased. The question is, what do you pay somebody to see if they’re good enough to be there?”

To some degree, White’s argument makes sense as several times it has shown that some fighters aren’t good enough to be in the promotion.