Several UFC veterans blast UFC for payment: “They kept us poor”
There is clearly a very vocal group of fighters criticising the UFC over payment and contracts at the moment. While many of the promotion’s biggest stars have led the way in terms of open critique, and divulging details regarding negotiations. The likes of Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal and Conor McGregor were the first to speak out, but it hasn’t stopped there. Now, several UFC veterans no longer in the promotion have spoken out about poor payment and treatment by the UFC.
One of the first to speak out was Canadian striker Sam Stout, who claims that he got a measly 4,000 dollars for his UFC debut fight against Spencer Fisher.
“I got paid 2k and 2k for my first ufc fight when they were starting out,” Stout revealed on social media. “When they got rich they kept us all poor. We are commodities to them. I’m with (Jorge Masvidal), (Jon Jones), (Gray Maynard) and all the others that have the balls to stand up to the man.”
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Welterweight Mike Pierce then chimed in, sharing a particularly unflattering story about former UFC match maker Joe Silva.
“There are many,” Pierce wrote regarding stories about Silva. “One time, as I was at the curtain about to make the walk, he reminded me why he signed me and why he hadn’t cut me yet. In other words, perform how I expect or you’re gone. One hell of a pep talk when you’re already under immense pressure.”
It hardly ended there, though. There were more UFC veterans and ex title challengers that had issues with the UFC’s payment structure.
Two-time title challenger Gray Maynard added to Pierce’s sentiments, implying that the former match maker was not at all as sympathetic of a person as he seems.
Lol. People have no idea what he put fighters through https://t.co/AddTAtaheH
— Gray Maynard (@GrayMaynard) June 13, 2020
Long-time top welterweight Jon Fitch then added to the ongoing stories about Silva.
“We had just renegotiated a new contract and Joe was pissed I was getting a pay bump,” Fitch revealed. “I only had one loss to GSP at the time. Joe said fine, you’ll get this number but as soon as you lose we are going to cut you and sign you back for half as much”
It seems that there are plenty of fighters willing to reveal damning details surrounding the treatment they’ve received from the UFC. It remains to be seen if a larger change can be accomplished.
This article first appeared on MMAnytt.se.
