Boxer Chris Eubank Jr. is aware of the MMA fighters’ situation in the industry, which is being dominated by UFC. With this, the Briton talked about how there are very limited options for MMA fighters, translating to payments worth less than they deserve.
In his recent interview with The MMA Hour, the boxer admitted being a fan of UFC, sharing how much he’s been watching its events over the ones on his sports. The fighter has never entered the industry before but is aware of the current condition of MMA fighters when it comes to promotion choices.
“I like everything about the UFC except how Dana [White] ‘s monopolized it and how those guys aren’t getting paid anywhere near as much as we’re making in boxing,” said Eubank.
With this, the boxer pointed out how it is “impossible” for MMA fighters to earn the same amount of money their boxing fellows get. According to Eubank, this gives MMA fighters a take-it-or-leave-it situation in the UFC.
“In the UFC you have a guy who has monopolized the entire MMA world,” explained Eubank. “If you don’t accept what Dana’s giving you, goodbye. Find somewhere else to go. A perfect example is Ngannou. In boxing, you have promoters all over the world, you have associations … all these different outfits of fighting for the best fighters, the best shows, they’re all like, ‘Come with us and we’ll pay you this.’ The competition is so huge that they’re always going to pay fighters more, whereas Dana doesn’t have to compete with anybody so he can pay you whatever he wants. In terms of business, he’s cracked it.”
In the end, while Eubank praised White’s efforts that brought UFC its current supremacy today, he expressed concern to fighters who “are not being compensated like they should be.”
“As a fighter, it sucks,” he added. “But what can you do? You can’t do anything until there’s more competition.”
The issue is not new in the industry, which explains the growing interest of several MMA fighters entering the boxing world and other sports. After Francis Ngannou made a huge success in his debut against Tyson Fury, fighters like Nate Diaz and Tyron Woodley followed. Other MMA fighters have also recently been showing interest in trying boxing sports, including Ilia Topuria and Tom Aspinall.
People like Eubank are also not the only ones aware of the problem, as UFC is currently facing a class-action lawsuit comprised of more than 1,200 current and former UFC fighters who participated in UFC’s bouts from December 16, 2010, to June 30, 2017. Some include Cung Le, Nathan Quarry, Jon Fitch, Brandon Vera, Luis Javier Vazquez, and Kyle Kingsbury. The lawsuit seeks up to $1.6 billion in damages and hopes “to force the UFC to change the way it does business.”
