Opinion: UFC’s New HQ Raises Questions About Fighter Pay -- Again
Editor's note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
Money -- that’s what it’s all about. It’s not the love of the sport, the fans or anything else. The reason athletes look to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is to deposit money in their bank accounts so they can put food on the table and take care of their day-to-day responsibilities.
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For the bigger names, the new facility isn’t much to think about in terms of cost. However, for the fighters who compete on the prelims and are still scratching and clawing their way through life, hearing these numbers tossed around only further complicates things. They know they’re competing in the biggest MMA organization in the world. Some hope to be at the top of the food chain and reel in the big bucks. Others are a little more realistic in their expectations and are just trying to make a living.
Fertitta called the new global headquarters an “investment in the
future.” Maybe he’s right. With an emphasis on injury prevention
and proper rehabilitation, the new campus isn’t just a big funhouse
for the employees of the UFC who don’t compete inside of the
Octagon.
Obviously, there are benefits when you consider that the UFC can now house all of its employees in one building rather than having them spread across seven or eight locations in the Las Vegas area. This does not even mention that White has, among other things, tossed around the idea of holding future installments of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series in the building to make headquarters more of a campus rather than a humongous office building.
Regardless, with The Economist reporting the average pay per fight is $24,500 and fighters complaining about the Reebok deal killing their sponsorship earning potential, as well as the costs associated with being a fighter -- training camp, healthcare, etc. -- this will be a debate that continues to rage on; this massive global headquarters will only fan the flames. The discussion about whether or not fighters need to unionize in order to get what they feel is their fair share of the pie will persist. Meanwhile, fighters like Benson Henderson will field offers in other fighting organizations that offer more money because, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
The bottom line is that nobody will ever be happy. It doesn’t matter if the UFC builds a home base it thinks will help preserve a fighter’s future or drives a dump truck full of cash to a fighter’s doorstep, someone is going to be pissed off. It’s the American way.
“That’s always going to be an issue,” Fertitta said about possible blowback from fighters about their pay. “If we distributed 200 percent of our revenues, people would be complaining about fighter pay. The fact of the matter is fighter pay has continued to increase every single year that we’ve owned the company.”
Whether or not a gigantic building is erected in Las Vegas doesn’t matter; and if the Reebok deal were to go away tomorrow, there would still be a complaint somewhere. The sport is still young and experiencing growing pains. The UFC may lose a few fighters in the process, but hopefully it can find a peaceful median where just about everyone can find some level of contentment.
Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.
