Dana White suggests no fighters received a pay bump following Friday’s UFC 279 card shuffle
UFC president Dana White has suggested that no fighters received a boost in pay after the UFC 279 weigh-in controversy.
As a result of Khamzat Chimaev missing weight at the UFC 279 weigh-ins on Friday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship had to call an audible and attempt to save the pay-per-view from being a disaster.
In the end, they did so – convincingly all six fighters involved in the mix-up to take on new opponents.
Nate Diaz vs Tony Ferguson, Khamzat Chimaev vs Kevin Holland and Li Jingliang vs Daniel Rodriguez all went down, but during a chat with the media after the fact, White hinted that none of the six received a bump in pay.
“Who got the biggest bump? Well these guys all have deals,” said White.
In response, during his own chat with the media, Nate Diaz had the following to say.
“I was like, ‘You got to pay me if you want to switch people on me in one f***ing day, I just cut 15 pounds and made me change my opponent, you guys got to give me more than you give any other champion in this whole organization.’ And they’re like, ‘Stupid, we already give you..’ [and I was like] ‘Oh, I want more than that then.”
Quotes via MMA News
The issue of fighter pay has long since been viewed as a problem in mixed martial arts, but that’s especially true in the UFC – despite them being such a wealthy company since their sale back in 2016 and beyond.
Whatever the case may be, White vs the public on the fighter pay problem isn’t going to go away.
What do you think about the comments of Dana White? Would some fighters have probably received a sum outside of the stated amount? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments, BJPENN Nation!
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