Luke Rockhold criticized the lack of fighter pay increase during UFC 278 press conference on Saturday.
Rockhold considered the lack of increase in fighter pay an issue and was associated with the UFC’s growth in recent years, with him saying the league prioritize bonuses rather than the actual pay.
“I love fighting and I’m here to fight the best motherf-ers. This happens to be the place where it’s done,” Rockhold said. “The company is f-ing growing and they’re implementing other little stupid-ass bonuses. $5,000 here, $5,000 there. $50,000, man. We’ve been stuck on this motherf-er for f-ing 20 f—ing years.”
He continued to criticize the stagnancy of the benefits for fighters, although saying that he understands that “this is business.”
“Every business is like this. It’s about leverage. It’s a game of leverage and life. It’s about always keeping the upper hand. It’s not just here, it’s everywhere. If you let these motherf—ers think they have that leverage, it’s only going to grow above you. So it’s just people understanding their worth.”
Luke Rockhold just *went off* on UFC fighter pay, bonus structure and health care at #UFC278 media day. 🗣️
Full interview: https://t.co/NMbP4pBgRZ pic.twitter.com/mQkka2PPDj
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 17, 2022
Common complaint
Few other fighters also shared the same sentiment as Rockhold, with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou being one of the most notable. He has pushed UFC president Dana White for promotion. He has been looking for other opportunities since capturing his belt.
“Fighters are ripped off with Sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit,” Ngannou tweeted.
Fighters are ripped off with Sponsorship. It’s a huge source of revenue for us but the company keeps exploiting that for their own benefit.
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 17, 2022
Rockhold also made sure to let his concern about healthcare known since the UFC currently doesn’t have healthcare plans for retired fighters. They only receive care if the fighters sustain an injury during training or in an event.
“Our lives are on the f-ing line. Healthcare needs to be taken care of. Our f-ing health needs to be taken care of. Mine has not been taken care of. There’s a lot of things that need to f-ing change, I’m just not going to be scared to say it. Everyone wants to get that title shot, they want to move up. I’ve f-ing done it all,” Rockhold said.
Listening to Luke's interview was very pertinent.
A lot of things that nobody is talking about it and the company just rolls with it.— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) August 17, 2022
White’s response to fighter pay issue
The topic of fighters’ payment increase has been heating up since White had an interview with GQ last week when he said it would “never gonna happen while I’m here.”
His statement has drawn critics from other fighters as they sue them for it among other issues. It has been a sensitive topic for him ever since. White then went on to tell Yahoo Sports that the interview was edited and he didn’t mean the fighter would never get a pay raise.
“I wasn’t sitting down with f-ing ‘60 Minutes’ talking about fighter pay. It was a fun, edited video piece — edited. That wasn’t the full f-ing interview. It wasn’t a serious interview. It was a fun, f-ing edited piece, and ESPN, the leader in sports, is going to write a story on fighter pay based off that f-ing video? Give me a f—ing break,” White said.
When he was asked why the issue of fighter pay were constantly discussed, he said that boxing was struggling due to the fact it overpaid the fighters.
“Fighters always want to make more money,” White said.
“Boxing has absolutely been destroyed because of money and all the things that go on. It’s never gonna happen while I’m here. Believe me, these guys get paid what they’re supposed to get paid. They eat what they kill. They get a percentage of the pay-per-view buys and money is spread out amongst all the fighters.”