When the topic of fighter pay rises up amongst fighters, most of them tend to back away from the microphone so not to cause any drama with their bosses at Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping has always been outspoken and has never been one to bite his tongue, however, and he is not straying away from the topic one bit.
Bisping was a guest on a recent edition of “The MMA Hour” and unloaded on fighter pay, trying to keep it as respectful as possible at the same time:
“I’ll say this with the greatest respect to the company and Dana White. Dana’s always been very fair to me. Dana’s always treated me with respect and this and that. I’ve always been happy with the amount of money I’ve been getting paid. But, now I see we’re in a new age of UFC and I see gigantic paydays going around that I have never been a part of. And I’ve done well, don’t get me wrong, I’ve done very well, but I see a lot of other people making a lot more money. And that does [expletive] me off a little bit. I’m not talking [expletive] about UFC, they’ve always paid me well and I’ve been happy with my pay. I just would like to be a part of one of the gigantic cards before I retire. That’s all, just so I can get a big gigantic payday I can retire on. Could I retire now? No I can’t. UFC has paid me well and I have no qualms. I’ve always signed contracts and at the time I’ve always been happy signing those contracts. But I see Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor getting $3 million guaranteed plus pay-per-view, so that’s a $10 million payday. I’ve never had a $10 million payday. I’ve never had a $1 million payday. So, yeah, of course, that’s why I want the money fights, who doesn’t? I’ve done this my entire life, dedicated myself to this sport, you have to earn it and I feel like I’ve earned it.”
Transcribed by MMA Mania
