Welterweight veteran Geoff Neal is making his Octagon return in his first fight this year against Carlos Prates in a featured fight at UFC 319. ‘Handz of Steel’ closed out 2024 with a gritty win, snapping a two-fight skid, and he’s got his sights set on carrying that momentum against his Brazilian opponent this Saturday to crack the welterweight top 10. But what should have been solely about his upcoming clash has veered off topic as a result of a surprising personal revelation that the 34-year-old made recently.

Geoff Neal claimed that, besides being a fighter, he also occasionally works as a waiter to make some extra money. This brings us back to the debate about fighter pay in the UFC, as other fighters, like Alexandre Pantoja, also had to work a second job just to make ends meet. Also, Anthony Smith faced similar experiences back in the day, when his UFC career was still young.

But for Neal, he didn’t seem to have any issues when it came to working a second job, as he believes it helps him in a certain way. The extra money? Not a bad perk, but for Neal, it’s more about staying sharp and engaged. He picks up shifts as a waiter one or two days a week, and get this—he even plans to clock in during UFC 319 fight week, just days before his showdown with Carlos Prates!

“I actually [have] work tomorrow. I’ve only been doing it like once or twice a week,” Geoff Neal told Home of Fight in an interview ahead of UFC 319. “It’s good money, isn’t it? It also helps burn calories. It’s like an active rest… It keeps me out of trouble. It’s like, it’s beneficial, you know?”

If we take a look at the reports that talk about Geoff Neal’s UFC earnings, he has made over $380,000 while competing in Dana White‘s promotion, according to the MMA Salaries, and that’s after grinding for over seven years in the UFC. Compare that to other major U.S. sports, and the disparity is glaring.

The UFC pays its fighters roughly 16-20% of its total revenue, while the NBA and NFL dish out closer to 50% to their athletes, ensuring a much fairer split of the massive profits they generate. This gap has fueled ongoing debates about whether UFC fighters, who risk serious injury every fight, are getting the short end of the stick compared to their counterparts in basketball or football. So maybe there’s a deeper issue for Neal, but he may not be willing to open up about it.

However, the CEO recently claimed that things will be better for the fighters when the new TV deal commences, as there are chances to earn more money.

Dana White claims that $7.7 billion TV deal will help fighters earn more

As we all know, you’re not earning big money if you’re not one of the stars, but that’s going to change in 2026, at least, according to Dana White’s recent comments. He recently claimed that not only is the deal a good one for the fans, who are paying over a thousand dollars every year to watch UFC fights, but the fighters also have a lot to benefit from because their payouts are set to see an increase.

“This is going to be incredible for the fighters. We’ve talked about how this is good for the fans and good for the sport, but the fighters are also big beneficiaries here,” Dana White told ‘Office Sports’. “We’ve looked to increase fighter pay whenever we could, even back in the beginning when we were losing money, and certainly will be doing so again.”

Well, how will things change? We don’t know that yet, but UFC legend Georges St-Pierre claims that this deal could see fighters struggling even more since PPV points will cease to exist. Regardless, let us know your thoughts on Neil Magny’s current situation in the comments down below.