The debate on UFC fighter pay flared up recently after former champion Robert Whittaker took to social media to promote a map in Fortnite. Apart from his prowess inside the octagon, Whittaker has made quite a name for himself as a passionate video game streamer. Hence, Samsung approached him with an opportunity to promote ‘Clash of Commuters,’ a new map they have created inside the battle royale title.
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However, UFC fans took the brand endorsement in a very different manner. They poked fun at Whittaker and more so at Dana White for not paying his fighters enough, with one fan commenting,
“Dana scamming so hard we got Rob promoting Fortnite Creative Maps”
Another fan was wondering how the bills got so high that Whittaker had to resort to promoting Fortnite,
“The bills cannot be this high Robert”
Other fans were more understanding, as one pointed out that Whittaker was probably getting paid well for the advertisement,
“Let him get his bag come on guys Dude is getting paid”
One fan begged Dana White to pay his fighter so he wouldn’t have to promote video games,
“Dana pay this man”
Yet another fan had an entirely different take as he wanted a custom ‘Whittaker’ character in the Fortnite item shop
“Nah we better be getting a Whittaker in the item shop”
Fans had mixed reactions to the post, with some calling the UFC CEO out for underpaying his fighters, while others respected Whittaker’s hustle to earn extra money.
However, Dana White has given his take on the whole fighter pay situation several times. In fact, he even explained how it works earlier this year.
Dana White explains how fighter pay works in an interview with presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy
Dana White and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sat for an extensive interview in January this year, where they talked about everything from day-to-day UFC business to running for the presidency. During the interview, the UFC president spoke about how fighter pay works and why the system is geared towards champions earning more,
“So there’s a standard level of pay, and depending on who you are and how you make it, how you climb up the ladder. So what happens is when you become a world champion, you become a partner.”
White then explained how fighters who become champions earn rights as partners to source revenue directly from the earnings. This makes sense since champions are usually the biggest draws in a fight card.
So, the fighter pay system is something that fighters themselves have control over. The more eyes you can attract to an event, or the bigger the PPV draw that you are, the higher the pay is. And for champions, it is usually the highest.
