A shift is underway in the UFC, and they will have to pay up. Back in 2014, a group of fighters, which included Cung Le, Nate Quarry, and Jon Fitch, accused the promotion’s then-parent company, Zuffa LLC, of underpaying them and restricting competition in the antitrust lawsuit. The plaintiffs also alleged that the promotion would lock fighters into exclusive, long-term contracts, which would not allow them to explore opportunities with other organizations. The case came back into the limelight in 2020 after a judge certified the class, which meant that UFC fighters who competed between 2010 and 2017 could join the lawsuit.

Fast forward to 2024, and the case reached a settlement. Interestingly, both sides initially settled for a $335 million agreement, but Nevada Judge Richard Boulware, who went to high school with Dana White, rejected it because the proposal had combined two lawsuits into one agreement (the case consisted of two class action suits: the First one by Le and the other by Kajan Johnson, who was under contract since 2017).

So later, Boulware approved the $375 million settlement, and the fighters’ attorneys broke down the financials, detailing how much their athletes would receive. “Under the Settlement, Le Class members would recover (on average), after all fees and costs are deducted, $250,000. Thirty-five Class members would net over $1 million; nearly 100 fighters would net over $500,000; more than 200 fighters would recover over $250,000; over 500 fighters would net in excess of $100,000; and nearly 800 would recover over $50,000,” they shared last year. And in February 2025, Brendan Schaub revealed that the payout time was a lot sooner than anyone expected.

On episode no. 1066 of ‘The Fighter and The Kid’ (TFATK) podcast, former UFC heavyweight Schaub exclaimed, “Did I tell you this, daddy’s getting a check from the UFC? Did we talk about this, the antitrust lawsuit? The lawyer called me. He’s like ‘you’re on the list’. I was on it so long ago. I forgot about it. He goes, ’They settled. ’ I go, ‘Congrats, what do I get the money in like 10 years when I’m f—- old and gray? He goes, ‘No, July.’” Why did Schaub ask this question, though?

Pursuing an antitrust lawsuit takes years. In fact, the fighters who did so were told that it would take about five to six years, but no one could have predicted the pandemic coming, which eventually delayed things. So the sheer amount of time it took to come to a resolution could have pushed Schaub to imagine it would take more time to actually receive the money.

Schaub had competed in the UFC from 2009 to 2014, when his last fight was against Travis Browne, which he lost via TKO in round 1. After two back-to-back losses, Schaub exited the promotion. So the timeline seems to match with the one mentioned in the lawsuit. Bryan Callen then inquired about the details of the payout, to which Schaub responded: “I say ‘What! What years is it?’ 2013 to 2018. That’s my entire career. And he’s like, ‘Yeah, you got a pretty good check coming bud. […] So it’s like $375 million split between 800 fighters or something like that. […] I told him [lawyer], ‘Me, I have nothing. I have no relationship with UFC, like I don’t work for them. I can’t get blackball anymore, like obviously I’m never working for the UFC so there’s no recourse for me if I take the money, right?

“And he’s like, ‘No’. I said, ‘But for other guys’ because he was like ‘Why wouldn’t they take it?’ I said ‘Well other guys, whether they’re commentators or they want to be in the Hall of Fame, I assume they’re going to get blackballed.” But here is the twist. The UFC and Dana White aren’t fighting the payout. According to Schaub, the lawyer told him, “You could talk to Sean Shelby or Dana. They’re going to tell you to take the money because they have to pay it, regardless. And if they don’t take it, then it just goes to the rest of you.” But does money alone fix the past?

According to names like Dan Hardy and Ben Rothwell, things could have been better. In an interview with MMA Fighting last year, Hardy revealed that for UFC 111, he had secured just $5,400 to face the reigning welterweight king at the time, Georges St-Pierre! As such, he stated that while “a bit of progress” was made with the settlement, the fact that the UFC and Dana White are willing to pay the fighters indicates that, “…the UFC has got what they wanted in maintaining control with their contracts.”

For former UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell, the numbers of the settlement were suspicious as well. Why? Rothwell explained in the MMA Fighting interview, “$300 million? Are you f—– kidding me? What a joke. I feel like there’s a backdoor deal.” However, Dana White, who was unhappy with how things ended, had a completely different theory. In August 2024, he told Kevin Iole that he, Boulware, and Lorenzo Fertitta went to high school together. “I don’t know what the hell me or Lorenzo did to him in high school, but this seems very, very personal,” Dana White opined, but did not comment on whether he or Fertitta were close with Boulware.

Even as the dust settles from the lawsuit and fighters like Brendan Schaub are set to receive their long-awaited dues, the UFC and Dana White’s fighter pay policies are still being questioned by many. While the promotion has reached staggering new heights in recent years, the athlete pay structure still falls far short of other major leagues like the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB!

Dana White and the UFC are under scrutiny as pay disparity details come to light!

In a surprising statement on ‘The Fighter vs The Writer’ in August 2024, UFC Veteran Matt Brown recently stated, “If anybody is to blame for fighter pay, it’s the fighters — and I’m one of them, at least formerly.” His point? The UFC runs a tight ship and pushing back publicly could sink a career. So, most stay quiet. But the numbers don’t lie.

According to a report shared on Instagram by MMA content creator, ‘Jordan Does UFC’ earlier this month, the promotion soared higher in 2024 when compared to its previous year’s earnings. He revealed TKO Group’s revenue for the UFC hit $1.4 billion in 2024—up from $1.29 billion the year before. Yet, fighters only got around 14.5% of that pot. That’s about $200 million in pay.

And it doesn’t stop there. “TKO is forecasting the UFC’s revenue to hit between $2.9 and $3 billion in 2025,” Jordan claimed. The courtroom may have handed fighters a victory in the antitrust lawsuit, but the real war over fighter pay is far from over. While a $375 million check might silence some critics temporarily, the figures behind the UFC’s revenue tell a louder story—one that echoes with imbalance. Fighters are told to toe the line while the company’s revenue soars toward the $3 billion mark. And yet, the percentage allocated to the warriors in the cage barely scratches 15%.

So, as the UFC eyes record profits in 2025, fans and fighters alike are watching closely. Will Dana White and the TKO brass finally change the game—or just keep playing it better than anyone else? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!