You Won’t Believe How Much Money The UFC Made In 2015

Fertitta on fighter pay:

“At the end of the day, it’s an absolute open market. There are multiple bidders in the marketplace. In fact, our number one competitor is Bellator, which is owned by Viacom, which has significantly more resources than we do even though we are the leading brand in this space. The fact of the matter is, out top athletes are making mutli-millions of dollars. And what is happening is as the sport grows and compensation goes up and revenue goes up, you’re starting to see that the guys and girls at the top are commanding a larger share of that pie. I think you see that in every sport, every business. It’s the athletes who make a difference that people want to pay for that are commanding the big dollars.”

So in other words, it’s a big fat middle finger to fighters who want to be paid better for their risk and sacrifice, but the door is more than open to fighters who have a theatrical touch.

Is this a hard nosed business tactic? Hell yes, but with no union in place for the UFC employees, as a privately owned business, they will continue in this fashion.

As a little treat, we have a very special tribute video to MMA on page 3…