Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: UFC opening up their books a solution to the fighter pay debate
Jan 19, 2012 - 3:00:25 PM HYDEN BLOG: UFC opening up their books a solution to the fighter pay debate

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

There's been a lot of talk recently about the UFC and how they pay their fighters. ESPN did an interview with Lorenzo Fertitta about this for their Outside The Lines program. I'm kind of torn on this, to be honest. I have no doubt that the UFC pays a lot of their fighters pretty well. The UFC generally does a pretty good job taking care of their fighters. However, it's naive to believe that they do everything they can and should. I understand the nature of pay-per-view prevents a timely account of how much money a fighter makes so it's hard to get specifics.

Other major sports organizations like the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL pay their players a certain percentage of revenue. It varies by the sport but it's usually around 50% or so. If the UFC pays their fighters a percentage in line with this 50% number, there's nothing to complain about. However, if that number is lower than 50%, then the UFC is underpaying its guys.

There's no way to know for sure what the real deal is. The UFC loves to hand out what they call "discretionary" bonuses. These are bonuses they hand out however they want, and to whomever they want. They can vary greatly, and often are as much as the stated fighter pay. Sounds great, until you consider that the stated fighter pay is a pathetic percentage of the revenue generated.

I know the UFC has all sorts of costs associated with their business. You've got your pay-per-view fees, advertising, etc. and etc. However, stated fighter pay is a small percentage of the revenue generated, often dipping into single digits. Stated fighter pay doesn't include the discretionary bonuses, but they'd have to be paying out a ton of these bonuses in order to come close to the 50% number. Maybe they do pay out a lot of bonuses? If they do, they should talk about it more, though.

The UFC pays a lot of money to their fighters, but they should pay even more. How much more is a question only they can answer. Open your books up and be upfront about your financial situation. They're under no obligation to do, but I would think that would be the quickest way to refute reports such as the one on Outside The Lines. Releasing interviews with guys who are currently employed by the UFC is preposterous if they're supposed to be enlightening. Even a 10-year old knows they're going to tow the company line, what the hell else are they going to say?

The UFC has slammed Outside The Lines as doing a hatchet job on them. That's as bogus as the UFC's claims that they've made 39 millionaires. There's a big difference between making $1 million and being worth $1 million. You have to deduct certain expenses because of fees associated with training costs, living costs, etc. There's also a little thing called taxes that you have to account for.

The UFC claims that they don't talk about how much money they make or how much the fighters make because it's no one's business. That's true, but they must then understand that they open themselves up to pieces like the OTL one. The UFC says its fighters don't discuss how much money they make because they "don't want it in the papers." It's incredibly easy for anyone to go online and find out how much someone in the NFL or NBA makes. You can even find out how much the commissioners of those leagues make. If the UFC wants to become one of the big boys, they have to play ball. Open up your books and let's find out the truth.

Perhaps we'll find out that the UFC pays its fighters more than 50%? Perhaps we'll find out that they pay their fighters less than 50%? The only thing we know is that we don't know. There's not a lot of downside to letting everyone know the UFC financials. That's the best way to insulate yourself from reports like this.

Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com