It has been an open secret for quite some time now that the UFC, despite being the biggest MMA promotion, is sadly known for underpaying its fighters. That is especially apparent when compared to other big promotions in the MMA scene. And recently, an ex-UFC fighter addressed the issue.

After 11 long years under the UFC banner, Derek ‘Blonde’ Brunson left the UFC to join PFL, UFC’s self-proclaimed rival promotion. In an interview, the former UFC fighter revealed the pay discrepancies he noticed in the two promotions. Here is what Brunson had to say about his pay in the UFC.

Derek Brunson talks about the biggest pay of his career

After his recent win at PFL’s final card of 2023, against Ray Cooper III, Derek Brunson revealed that he got the biggest pay in his career while also taking a jab at how less he was paid by Dana White and the UFC. He stated, “For sure, my biggest payday ever. It’s pretty good… a lot more than the UFC, I would say that.”

“It’s kind of disheartening when you hear guys like Kevin Holland say, ‘The fight with Chimaev, I got paid crazy money.’ Like I would imagine he got $600,000 or something like that, short notice.… I’ve never been able to say that.” Stated Brunson, as he went on to give an estimate of how much Kevin Holland earned for his fight against Khamzat Chimaev while also revealing that he was never paid the same, given his long career in the UFC.

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He went on to compare his careers between both the promotions, by saying, “There was nothing left for me in the UFC. I feel like I squeezed all of the juice out of the lemon or whatever. Just being able to have a fresh start, a new start, not going where I’m tolerated, but somewhere I’m wanted and appreciated.”

Derek Brunson seems way more satisfied with PFL’s way of handling and dealing with fighters as compared to that of the UFC. And Brunson wasn’t the only fighter who was troubled with the UFC’s pay. However, there have been fighters who were paid handsomely for their fights in the UFC.

Fighters who have been paid handsomely in the UFC

From a report found by Robert Blair, an antirust expert on surveying fighters’ pay to defend against a lawsuit set against the UFC by a group of fighters, he found some names who were paid quite handsomely. Though the names of the fighters weren’t revealed, the payouts hinted at some of the top stars of the UFC.

Some of the largest payouts as deduced from the reports were, Conor McGregor who earned an estimated $6,812,374 at UFC 205, Anderson Silva who earned an estimated $4,373,326 at UFC 168, Jon Jones who earned an estimated $3,637,500 at UFC 182 and Ronda Rousey who earned an estimate of $1,817,907 at UFC 168.

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Given that the UFC manages to pay their top fighters exceptionally well, should they raise the fight purse of the rest of the fighters? Or should they be paid according to how much they bring to the sport? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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