The UFC and Dana White have been criticized for a long time for underpaying its fighters. In leagues like the NBA and NFL, athletes receive approximately 50% of the profits generated by the organizations. In the case of the largest MMA promotion in the world, that figure hovers around the 20% mark, a realization that turned out to be the thin end of the wedge leading to a class certification that took five-and-a-half years to resolve.

The UFC is currently dealing with an Anti-trust lawsuit, recently granted class certification, and fast-tracked by a Nevada court. This situation may result in significant payouts and contract changes, potentially impacting the organization’s future operations. However, one lesser-known aspect of fighter pay is the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance.

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The UFC’s Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay encompasses various tasks, from media commitments to outfitting standards, all bundled into compliance pay. Fighters are grouped into tiers based on the number of fights they’ve had and their time with the promotion.

Lawrence Epstein, UFC COO, emphasized their substantial cash payments to athletes and the provision of high-quality products for events and training.

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“At the end of the day, we paid tens of millions of dollars in cash to athletes. We delivered tens of millions of dollars of high-quality product to the athletes to use in their events and in their training. With this new deal, we just wanted to do more of what we were doing, which is deliver high-quality product and pay money to our athletes,” Epstein said.

He also underscored the organization’s commitment to elevating athlete compensation across the board as part of the UFC Promotional Guidelines program. “We’re proud to say that when it comes to the cash payment to the athletes, there will be across-the-board increases for every tier of the payout pursuant to the UFC Promotional Guidelines Program.”

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The UFC recently updated its compensation structure, and fighters like Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya received payments based on the revised terms at UFC 293.

What was the compliance pay for fighters at UFC 293

For the main event, while Sean Strickland took home $32,000, his defeated opponent Israel Adesanya earned $42,000. For the heavyweight bout in the main card, the victorious Alexander Volkov brought home $11,000, while Tai Tuivasa got $11,000 as well. ‘Starboy’ Manel Kape earned $6,000 for his win against Felipe Dos Santos who got $4,000.

While fighters may welcome the revised pay scales, some have raised concerns. They point out that outfit deals with Reebok or Venum have negatively impacted a key income source: in-cage sponsorships. Once Reebok took over, a lot of those opportunities spread thin. As reported by The Athletic, fighters faced relatively fewer trunk options and color schemes to choose from. Homogeneity ruled appearances as most walked into the cage looking interchangeable.

During the Reebok affair, fans heard a lot about how all the money will be funneled to the fighters, and UFC will be less than interested in taking a bite at it. While the UFC paid out around $40 million during the Reebok era, it is reportedly said to be worth over $70 million. But the catch here was most of it was paid in merchandise and not cash.

Long story short, in-cage sponsorships were a previously lucrative avenue for many fighters. And if the UFC loses the anti-trust lawsuit, it may have to reinstate the previous state of affairs.

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