Daniel Cormier suggests UFC fighter pay is increasing ahead of Paramount deal
UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has given his thoughts on the latest state of UFC fighter pay as they prepare to move away from the pay-per-view model.
As we know, the issue of fighter pay in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been prominent for quite some time now. While some defend it, others have often taken the opportunity to question why the promotion doesn’t give athletes a bigger piece of the pie. Of course, some former fighters are now on the payroll of the UFC in other ways, such as Daniel Cormier.
Daniel Cormier was likely able to earn a lot during his fighting career as a result of him being involved in numerous championship fights. So, by comparison to a lot of others on the roster, he probably did quite well for himself.
In a recent interview, Daniel Cormier had the following to say about how fighter pay is changing.
Daniel Cormier’s view on UFC fighter pay
“They’re already getting more money – that’s the difference,” Cormier said in an interview with Josh Thomson. “People always talk about, ‘What’s the UFC going to do for a fighter?’ I know guys now, ‘Well pay-per-view’s going away, what are they going to do?’ I know guys now that are making more money than they did even when they were making pay-per-view, because pay-per-views just maybe weren’t selling as much as they used to. Whenever we were fighting and I was fighting Jon Jones and (Anthony) ‘Rumble’ Johnson, and having Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz on my card, I was making a boatload of money in pay-per-view. That’s not the reality of the world today.”
“Today, a big pay-per-view number was 600,000, 500,000 – pay-per-views just didn’t sell as much,” Cormier added. “People are stealing it on streams, they’re doing all of these things to where the numbers just weren’t (great). I know guys now that said, ‘Hey, can I restructure with the idea that pay-per-view is gone?’ The UFC’s like, ‘Yes,’ and now it’s like guaranteed money. They’re doing that. And the guy from the very beginning is going to do better, and the guy all the way to the top of the card is going to do better. They’re giving these guys more money.”
Quotes via MMA Junkie
