FanPost

Why Do Boxers Make More Than UFC Fighters? (And All Pro Mixed Martial Artists Really)

In light of the recent lawsuit filed by former and current fighters employed by the UFC, I'm writing this to ask a question I think we already know, but still rhetorically I guess it should be looked at in a deeper sense. Why is it that a promotional company worth a billion dollars with a major financial long term deal with the top network in the country, not to mention countless major sponsors backing its product in and outside the cage pays its most valued (one would naively assume) asset so little.

More glaring than the disconnect between moneys earned by the company at large compared to the fighter risking life and limb inside the cage, is the fact that despite being a much more low key less active sport these days, boxing sees its stars, even its contenders and mid tier participants earning well above their mma counterparts; why is that?

Boxing has less sponsors, fighters within the sport have less sponsors than that. Heck, the sport's most famous or infamous, and most richest superstar manages to cash in roughly 40 million dollars a fight, without any major endorsement deals or commercial avenues to his name. Manny Pacquiao is endorsed by both American and Filipino brands plus he makes between 20 and 30 million dollars a fight. Guys who fight Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are expected to earn at least, at least between 4 and 7 million dollars.

Boxing is a weird sport because it has been for the most part relegated to a cable based network staple on ESPN, HBO, Showtime, Sky Sports, Boxnation, Fox Sports, and Fox Sports Deportes. There aren't any major network deals funneling in millions to the sport over the next five or however many years the UFC signed on for to deliver Fox top quality fights.

And yet, we hear about boxers becoming millionaires or multi millionaires overnight. In a non title main event last weekend Amir Khan reportedly made 2 million dollars while his opponent Devon Alexander made 900K.

It really boggles my mind how a company like the UFC, which is worth so much has so little to offer its fighters beyond dollars and cents earned in the cage. The fact is fighters aren't really given a chance to earn much without having that "UFC" blessing or backing. The difference between Jon Jones and Floyd Mayweather is simple: Floyd Mayweather is his own brand, Jon Jones is apart of one.

I remember when Floyd signed his Showtime deal and thinking to myself will we ever see a professional mixed martial artists sign a deal like that? Could Anderson Silva at the time or Jon Jones ever have the opportunity presented to themselves where despite being promoted by the UFC, they could sign an individual deal with a network that essentially etched their financial future in stone.

It's complicated because the UFC is a league, not just a promotion. Much like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, but should combat sports mirror that of team sports? I understand brands and leagues in that sense because team sports are about teams, fans, and players, combat sports is of course more about the individual; or at least it is in boxing.

Golden Boy promotions works with Showtime but Canelo Alvarez, a Golden Boy fighter was able to sign a long term deal with HBO, a rival network.

The problem with mixed martial arts is that the world is shut off in different areas. The UFC doesn't cross promote which is one of the chief reasons why fighters don't make a lot of money. Cross promotion breeds bidding which generates more money promoters are willing to pay in order to get certain fights signed on the dotted line.

Scott Coker, former president of Strikeforce MMA was known for his cross promoting with Japanese companies like DREAM. He was the only one at the time at least in America who encouraged the idea of cross promotion because it opened the door to fights we would otherwise miss out on. Strikforce also did cross promotions with M-1.

It's part selfishness, part domination scheme on the part of Zuffa and their UFC leviathan. Fighters are just now starting to fight back but the battle is a lot more complex than in boxing. Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, and Floyd Mayweather were able to guide their own careers because they didn't have to deal with one sole company having control of every top champion, contender, and prospect in the sport.

If you're in the UFC and you want to brand yourself the UFC will have a large say in how you go about that venture. The saddest part is just that, the idea of branding yourself not really being one branding one's self.

The UFC sponsors some of its own fighters, how is that possible?

The signed a deal with Reebok and are mandating a universal dress code, the deal also eliminates individual sponsors who have a deal with individual fighters.

The individualism of boxing is what sets it apart still from the conformity and universal lockstep world of the UFC. Each fighter, though they might not make the same in a fight, they have a chance to make a lot more as individuals on their own terms more often than not.

Something so superficial as a boxer's trunks is so poetic in how it symbolizes the individuality of the sweet science compared to the robotic futuristic appeal of fighter uniforms. Terrence Crawford's metallic trunks with "Omaha" written down the right side, or Mike Tyson's signature black trunks, black boots, and no socks look as he entered the ring to enact brutality on his opponent. Bernard Hopkins' Grant trunks with the word "Executioner" across the waist, James Toney and his all black metallic trunks with the gold Star of David. These subtle things illustrate to the fan who the boxer is, where and what they come from. Uniforms are a UFC thing, they don't tell us much at all about the fighters in the UFC or what they represent.

It's not about uniforms or deals that destroy a fighters means to make money, but a larger narrative that can be summed up by this word alone: Control

Fighters in the UFC have no control, simple as that. Not even the most celebrated super star fighters, if you think about it can truly consider themselves masters of their own destinies.

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