Jake Paul and his comments on various aspects of combat sports are not a new thing. After his achievements in boxing, Paul even expressed his disagreement with “UFC fighter’s pay.”
The Problem Child has consistently been vocal about fighters receiving adequate compensation and promotion to secure their futures as they put their lives on the line. Jake even dared to engage in a feud with UFC president Dana White regarding this matter.
Jake Paul still stands firmly on his UFC fighter pay feud with Dana White
Jake Paul has always advocated for the fighter’s needs, and combat sports fans are always looking forward to his UFC debut. But Paul has always clearly stated “no” to all the rumors and questions regarding this. However, Paul made a big comment about joining the UFC only on his terms (via Sports Illustrated).
After making a name for himself in boxing and now running a boxing promotion called Most Valuable Promotion, Jake has earned his place on the list of combat sports stars. This is the reason he was again interviewed about his stance on fighters receiving adequate pay.
Recently, George Janko was on his YouTube channel, discussing the UFC fighter’s pay. George asked if Jake Paul would still stick to his stand regarding the UFC fighter’s pay. Firstly, Paul accuses Dana White of bringing steroids into MMA sport.
“He was the person who introduced that idea of bringing in steroids,” Jake said and he also revealed how he actually hired different coaches to train Ben Askren so Askren can beat him on the night of April 17th, 2021.
While taking the example of Francis Ngannou, Jake Paul said, “Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, everybody’s criticizing him [Francis Ngannou]. I was just the loudest about it. Everyone in the whole MMA community, like the fighters on his roster, says we don’t get paid enough, so I would look at the criticism, and even if I had my opinion, I would get to the truth.”
As per Paul, Francis Ngannou’s move was criticized earlier by everyone for joining PFL, but he was the one to be the loudest to support Ngannou’s decision. In this whole scenario, the reason was that fighters don’t get paid enough, like earlier.
What is Dana White’s stance on UFC fighter pay?
The UFC president has done very much to promote MMA on the world stage since acquiring the company in 2001. In the past 24 years, the promotion has become the ultimate toughest level where fighters around the world test their mixed martial arts skills in cages against each other. Many times fighters came forward to the UFC, but they don’t get paid enough to secure their future.
Dana White’s philosophy around UFC fighter pay hasn’t changed in a decade. This clip is from his 2013 lecture at Stanford University. Have at it. pic.twitter.com/IuYQatHs9n
— Maximum Power (@TheMaximumPower) January 5, 2022
According to Dana White, there is a standard for paying a fighter. So it completely depends on the fighter’s identity and how he is able to gather all his skills to climb up the ladder.
According to the UFC president, becoming the UFC champion is like becoming a partner; this is where the fighters are getting the most of the issue. White said that the fighter will have to give some pay-per-view revenue to the promotions as a business partner.
Dana White explained the situation saying, ”The way that it works is that there’s a standard level of pay, and depending on who you are and how you make it, how you climb up the ladder, So what happens is that when you become a world champion, you become a partner. So when you get the belt, you’re sharing the pay-per-view revenue.” Via sportster.
So, Jake Paul, comparing the payment problem with the Francis Ngannou situation, was drawing parallels. Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight champion when he left, and the terms of pay-per-view revenue were likely one of the reasons for not signing the contract.
What are your thoughts, Jake Paul, about taking a stand for UFC fighter’s pay?
