Is $20K for a top 5 ranked UFC fighter a good contract offer?

For a fighter ranked in the top 5 in the UFC, is a contract offering $20,000 to fight sound like it is a good deal? As pay ranges greatly from fighter to fighter, top-ranked bantamweight Aljamain Sterling spoke with News Talk recently about the last contract that was offered to him by the UFC, which he thought was a joke.

“The contract was so low that it’s kind of laughable, in my opinion, so I don’t have a problem mentioning the numbers. For the last contract, before the fight – maybe a week and a half or two weeks beforehand before the fight – they offered me twenty and twenty, with three grand increases [per fight] until the title fight. I was scratching my head, like, are you serious?”

Sterling went on to explain his thoughts a bit more with his ranking and performance.

“Twenty and twenty is not good enough for a guy ranked top five. There’s no way in hell anyone should think that’s ok. There has been a couple of fighters out there who’ve been saying ‘Oh, Aljamain Sterling has been whining and complaining about money on twitter’ and I’m like dude, do you have any idea what whining and complaining actually is?”

“I’m asking for a legitimate raise with legitimate reasons for a raise, so if you consider that whining and complaining I’d hate to see the offers UFC give you, and that you instantly sign because you guys are puppets.”

Do agree with Sterling here? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments!