Conor Benn’s $15 million deal with Dana White-led promotion Zuffa Boxing has created an uproar in the UFC roster. And the root cause for that remains the fighter pay issue. Now, while the UFC’s fighters feel exploited by the promotion, Max Holloway has come in with a solution for their betterment.

Over the years, UFC has been facing intense scrutiny over the fighter pay issue, which mainly came to light following the Le v. Zuffa Antitrust Lawsuit. To that end, the UFC fighters often expressed their disappointment and called for better payouts. Sister company Zuffa Boxing’s $15 million signing of Benn for just one bout has only added more fuel to it. And for that, the UFC BMF champion wants fighters to raise their voices as a unit.

Max Holloway’s remedy for the UFC fighter pay issue

“This Paramount deal, and hopefully, fighters can start getting together and being smart,” said Max Holloway on Demetrious Johnson’s YouTube channel. “One time, it’s always going to stick out in my mind, was when… I love Derrick Lewis, man, he’s a man. But when Jon Jones said, ‘Oh, I’ll fight Francis.’ I think, so, he’s like, ‘Give me ten million dollars,’ or whatever it was.

“And UFC said, ‘Hell no, we’re not paying you that.’ Derrick Lewis, I believe, was ranked at the time, and he said, ‘What? Jon is doing this for ten? Give me a million, I’ll fight Francis now.’ So, I hope that these new fighters coming in know your worth, man. The main thing I would say is know your worth, know what it is. It’s gonna suck… Hold your ground, bro. Usually know what your worth is.”

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Holloway said the UFC has seemingly been quite strict when it comes to offering an improved deal. Surely, the fighters have their demands, as seen in the example of Francis Ngannou. The French-Cameroonian was the UFC heavyweight champion when his contract tenure expired.

And during the discussions for a renewal, Ngannou reportedly demanded an improved offer. However, Dana White & Co. weren’t ready to meet those demands, and it ultimately resulted in Ngannou’s UFC departure. That’s what happened when Ngannou, as a solo fighter, went up to ask for increased compensation.

Hence, Holloway believes a collective and smart effort from the fighters could only solve the UFC payout issue. Now, while these debates arose after Dana White signed Conor Benn,  it seems the UFC CEO is not the one covering the purse.

TKO COO clarifies the narrative after signing Conor Benn

As soon as the news of Zuffa Boxing signing Conor Benn was made public, the UFC community voiced their speculations. Many noted how this deal would cause a shakeup in the UFC fighters’ minds.

And so it did, with fighters like Sean O’Malley, among others, raising their voices. However, to end those narratives, Mark Shapiro, the COO of TKO, which is the parent company of Zuffa Boxing and UFC, stepped in.

“Well, first off, I would say this story, to your point, has taken on a life of its own,” Mark Shapiro said on a quarterly financial call. “That’s largely because Eddie Hearn is stirring the pot in a very fictional way. So, as you know, our partner in Zuffa Boxing is SELA. They’re the financial backer of the entity…

We at TKO with SELA collectively identified Conor Benn as someone we wanted to sign for one of those superfights in 2026. That’s it, one fight in 2026.”

In a few simple statements, Shapiro noted that Zuffa Boxing’s partner, SELA, will be the financial backer of their operations, including signings. However, the speculations by the UFC fighters and fans also came up considering the new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount.

As such, they felt the promotion may be utilizing portions of that amount in signing fighters for Zuffa Boxing. But that was not the case as revealed by the TKO COO.

On that note, do you think Max Holloway’s solution to tackle the UFC fighter pay issue can actually work? Let us know in the comments below!