UFC veteran Matt Brown believes that fighters, including himself, are to blame for the pay they get from the UFC.
The issue of payment has been a long-debated topic in the UFC, as it was disclosed that top-level MMA fighters earn less than boxers. Many fighters have discussed the issue, and now Brown also has a few things to say on the topic.
Although Brown never headlined any PPVs or championships, the fighter has been with the promotion for 16 years. The fighter believes the promotion isn’t doing right by the fighters and that the issue of underpaying fighters should be blamed not only on the promotion alone but also on the fighters.
“It’s hard to expect the UFC just to be completely fair about it,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “They’re running a business, and they run it very f*cking well. They’ve done an amazing job building their business. I think 99 per cent of people in their shoes would be doing very similar to what they’re doing.
“Does that make it right? That’s up to each person to decide on their own. I think it’s just way more complex than people give it credit for.”
Brown says that companies will always try to maximise profits in whatever way they can and shouldn’t be blamed for this. The fighter also believes that fighters like himself also share some responsibility for not holding the promotion accountable.
“If anybody is to blame for fighter pay, it’s the fighters — and I’m one of them, at least formerly,” Brown said. “I never fought against the UFC about my pay. You’ve seen on Instagram and Twitter, different interviews where the fighters stick up for the UFC.
“I’ve never heard of a business in my life where the employees — if you want to call us employees or even subcontractors — where they’re going to say. ‘I shouldn’t be paid more, they’re paying me a perfect amount of money.’ That is so unbelievable to me.”
The fighter is not sparing himself in this blame game; he admits he also has a role to play. Brown admits that his reason for not putting up a fight was his belief that it wouldn’t get him anywhere.
“Look, I’ve always been happy with how the UFC’s treated me. I like them,” Brown said. “There’s no hate against them at all, but if I thought sticking up for myself and fighting with them about pay would get me paid more. I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat. I only question if guys are saying that because we know the amount of power that [UFC] have.
“If you try fighting against [UFC], your chances of getting more pay just get diminished. You’re just lowering your chances of getting more pay. So of course you publicly stick up for them even though something in the back of your head is saying, ‘Damn, this isn’t really what I want.’”
Another reason the promotion seems to be getting away with this is that MMA athletes have no union to fight for their rights. However, a union may bring about complications, as every contract has to be specifically tailored to a promotion.
“UFC is like the [Dallas] Cowboys if the Cowboys had won the past 20 Super Bowls in a row. And there’s not even a close second-place team,” Brown said with a laugh. “Like, literally every college star only wants to go to the Cowboys. They have complete power over every Super Bowl.
“They’re going to win for the next 20 Super Bowls and they’re like. ‘You want to go play for the f*cking Bears? Go for it. There’s another kid coming out of college tomorrow, buddy.’”
Despite the challenges fighters face, Brown is still pretty hopeful and positive about the promotion. He advises that new athletes find out what they’re getting into beforehand. And, find a way to push themselves not only as fighters but also as a brand.
“If you’re an aspiring UFC fighter or MMA fighter, you need to view the UFC for what it is,” Brown explained. “It is a stage to magnify your brand so you can make money in other ways. That’s where you’re going to make the real money. Even Conor McGregor he certainly could have retired just off the money he made in the UFC, but he’s made what 10, 20 times more probably outside the UFC? That’s the way you’ve got to do it.
“I hope that changes sometime, where like an NFL player only has four years but as long as they live below their means. Which is pretty easy to do when you’re making millions of dollars a year. They can retire just off of four years of [playing football], where in the UFC that’s just not the case.”
