Exclusive: Dana White’s Fighters Pay Severely Questioned as UFC Veteran Matt Brown Raises Concern

Matt Brown went out on top from the UFC. In his last bout under the promotion, ‘The Immortal’ tied the record for the most knockouts in the UFC at the time, 13. With a career spanning several decades, he has truly earned his spot in the Hall of Fame of MMA, but did the sport pay his bills? While he never won a title or headlined a major PPV in the promotion, he did learn a lot about business economics and finances during his 16 years under Dana White.

So much so that now he has a successful post-fight career with several businesses, such as a series of gyms. He surely enjoyed the learning and his time in the promotion. However, according to the fighter, while he did get to build a brand for himself, there still was a major problem with the promotion, an issue he has talked about time and again – fighter pay. He delved further into the same in our exclusive interview with EssentiallySports’ Andrew Whitelaw.

While talking about his run in the UFC in our exclusive, Brown revealed the things he loved and the things he hated in the promotion. While he did state that working in the UFC offered him the chance to fight for a living and follow his passion, the thing he hated at times overpowered the positive emotion. According to the former fighter, he earned more since retirement than he did while being an active fighter in the top promotion.

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He told EssentiallySports’ Andrew Whitelaw, “The worst thing, if I gotta be honest, is the money. I get paid—while I’m not complaining, I make good money. But again, it’s not sustainable. You can make a lot of money doing other things, at least at the level I was at. I wasn’t a world champion. Maybe it’s different for a world champion if you’re Conor McGregor, you know, guys like that. But for me, I think I can make more money doing other things.”

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Brown has often stated that the UFC roster is mostly underpaid compared to the massive revenue generated by the promotion. However, according to the fighter, the situation is a lot more complex. There is surely more than meets the eye. But what solutions do we have? Well, there are a few things that Brown suggests.

Matt Brown’s solutions to the ongoing issueAccording to the fighter, while the responsibility for the underpayment falls on the shoulders of the promotion, some blame also goes to the fighters for not holding the promotion accountable for the issue. He even held himself accountable for the problem as he revealed that during his decade-long run with the promotion, he only discussed his low pay just once. That too during an in-person meeting with Dana White.

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So according to the veteran, the fighters need to be a lot more vocal. That would involve being critical of the promotion for the low pay despite the pressures. He also suggested that there should be a regulatory body, or at least a union of MMA fighters, to look over these issues. The regulatory bodies like the ones with the NBA and MLS provide a good representation of fighter issues.

In our EssentiallySports exclusive, he did add that while he too felt like he was underpaid, he holds nothing against the promotion and believed that climbing up the ladder by being champion could have changed things for him. What do you think? Is the UFC actually underpaying their fighters? What solutions do you have in mind? Let us know in the comments. And do not forget to check out our ES Exclusive with Matt Brown on our ES official site.