UFC
"Uncle Creepy" Ian McCall discusses his UFC fighter pay experience
Jul 16, 2012 - 11:45:53 AM "Uncle Creepy" Ian McCall discusses his UFC fighter pay experience

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC doesn't making a habit of talking about the pay of their fighters. UFC President Dana White is of the opinion that it's better for the athletes on their roster if people don't know how much they really make, and UFC officials have all insisted that the fighters are getting taken care of well beyond what their disclosed pay reveals.

Many are skeptical of the much-talked about "locker room bonuses," the arbitrary "if you perform, we'll take care of you" money that UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta touted in his now-infamous interview with ESPN earlier this year. But for some fighters, it's a very real part of their income from the UFC.

Case in point, UFC flyweight Ian McCall took to The Underground Forum to address fan complaints about his disclosed $9,000 payday at UFC on FX 3, and he made it clear that he's very happy with his UFC pay, and made significantly more than what was released by the commission. Here's what he had to say:

"Dana says he doesn't like to give out real numbers, which is [definitely] the truth cause I came on here and saw people saying things like I shoulda got paid more even though I lost but I headlined the card.

I did, Dana sent me an extra 25k right after the fight plus i got main event sponsor money haha

The UFC pays you to do your job, if you do it then you get paid good... in my UFC debut I made over $80,000... that's a lot of money for a division half the MMA community didn't know existed!!

I love all of you guys, most of you know my life story, I just wanted you to know that I get taken care of by the UFC real well, ESPECIALLY when it comes to $!

All i gotta do now is beat the crap out of someone and move forward and start making anderson moneyyy !!!!!!! :)

...

Dana leaves it up to the fighters to talk about their pay, a lot of you guys dont know we get paid a lot more than what you see..

that is all :)

Penick's Analysis: Lots of fighters have stories just like McCall, they just don't publicize them. Conversely, I'm sure there are plenty of fighters who haven't gotten taken care of to the same extent, or haven't been the beneficiaries of the "locker room bonuses." Those would be the fighters who don't perform to the arbitrary standards of those signing the checks, or who don't have the most exciting fights inside the Octagon, and the fact that it's at the discretion of a few makes some wary. Still, at the moment, many of the UFC's fighters are definitely making a lot more than what is publicized, they simply don't talk about it like this.