Reactions to UFC’s groundbreaking take care of Paramount have generated a slew of reactions.
On Monday, information broke that Paramount had plunked down a whopping $7.7 billion to change into the unique streaming residence of the Final Preventing Championship’s occasions beginning in 2026 — together with premium numbered occasions which will likely be out there as a part of the month-to-month subscription service.
That bit of reports alone was sufficient for struggle followers to rejoice.
Nonetheless, there was plenty of discuss how eliminating the antiquated pay-per-view mannequin will affect fighter pay. Historically, UFC championship and prime stars obtain PPV factors as a part of their contract. Primarily, it permits fighters to earn a bonus primarily based on the buyrate of a specific PPV occasion. The extra individuals who purchase it, the extra money the athlete takes residence.
With PPV primarily eradicated as of 2026, does that imply fighters will lose tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} within the course of? Whereas one UFC legend means that might be the case, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen disagrees.
“The concept that fighters could be paid much less? Fighters have by no means been paid much less,” Sonnen mentioned through his YouTube channel. “And that features years the corporate made much less. In case your conclusion is that fighters will make much less now — whilst you’re being given the present of not paying for pay-per-views — then I really feel you will have tremendously missed the purpose.
“There’s by no means a time in historical past, together with the years the UFC was dropping cash, the place year-over-year fighter pay didn’t go up. That wasn’t negotiated, by the best way. That was carried out by the workplace that mentioned, ‘Hey, allocate and get extra money to those guys.’ The concept that you realize what an MMA fighter makes is fake. It’s merely false.”
Dana White addresses fighter pay considerations following Paramount deal … Type of
Following Tuesday’s new episode of Dana White’s Contender Sequence, the UFC CEO briefly addressed a number of the considerations surrounding fighter pay, revealing that bonuses are “clearly” going up.
“Pay attention, I’m not going to have any feedback on that as a result of we’ve nonetheless received to get collectively and determine these things out,” White informed reporters on the Contender Sequence scrum on Tuesday. “It’s August, we have now till January to determine that stuff out. However the low-hanging fruit that’s straightforward to reply? Bonuses are clearly going up. In order that will likely be huge. Overlook concerning the tide rising with all the opposite fighters, simply the quantity that the bonuses convey to a fighter is hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.”
