Somewhere between complaints and apologies, real discussion on fighter pay waits

There’s a predictable script that comes with complaints about fighter pay these days.

Actually, maybe it’s more like a flowchart.

Is the complaining fighter in question a former UFC employee, now making his living elsewhere? If so, then you can count on hearing UFC president Dana White dismiss him as another UFC washout still smacking his lips over sour grapes.

Is the fighter retired or inactive or so high up the food chain that he can’t be brushed off as an inconsequential malcontent? In that case, hey, everyone wants to make more money.

But in the case of current UFC fighters, such as Tim Kennedy, who recently compared MMA fighter pay – unfavorably, just in case you were wondering – to a job “empty[ing] trash cans,” that’s when we can sit back and wait for the inevitable backtracking.

Two days after Kennedy called that state of fighter pay “pathetic” in an interview with the GrappleTalk podcast, he apologized in a Facebook statement where he called his own choice of words “poor” and “not properly informed.” He also claimed his comments were “taken out of context,” which is athlete-speak for, “I didn’t realize I was going to get in trouble.”

Just so we’re all clear, the context was Kennedy being asked whether fighters who have outside jobs can still be fully committed to MMA, and then responding by saying that they kind of need them, since the current state of fighter pay is “pathetic.” Kennedy was the one who brought up the issue in the first place, and it seems logical to assume that he didn’t spontaneously change his position in the two days between when his comments went public and when he issued the apology. When he wrote in his apology that “Zuffa has taken better care of me than any other organization,” he was probably telling the truth. He was also very likely reminded of that fact by someone unhappy with his comments in the first place.

But what about the initial gripe, the one that Kennedy and many others have raised? In his original comments, Kennedy estimated he’d pocket about $20,000 for a successful debut against Roger Gracie at UFC 162 this Saturday. That’s after he pays for stuff like taxes, coaches, managers, training expenses, and “nutrition” (also known as eating, an expense we all incur). And yeah, that’s not a lot of money for getting in a cage and fighting for our entertainment.

Whatever happened in those two days between the comments and the apology, it’s hard to imagine Kennedy changing his mind completely and deciding that, you know what, it’s actually plenty of money. Maybe even too much money, really. Here, take some of it back.

No, chances are he still thinks it’s not great compensation, considering the risks and the sacrifice, and chances are he’s not alone. It’s just that no one can say it unless they’re on the way out anyway, as John Cholish was, or ready to turn right around and apologize, as Kennedy did. That’s in glaring contrast to one of White’s favorite claims, which is that we have no idea what these fighters are really making. That could be true, but it sure seems like the fighters themselves ought to know. And if they know and aren’t happy with it – if some are even deciding that it would be better to go get a job instead – that says something.

This shouldn’t just be a conversation about the UFC’s pay structure, however. This is an issue for the whole sport. Compensation for MMA fighters is improving, but slowly. It’s still at a point where, if you’re not one of the best in the world at your weight class, and if you have the option of doing almost anything else for a living, you’d probably be better off sticking with your day job.

At the same time, it’s not as if fighters are forced into this. As UFC heavyweight Travis Browne pointed out, it’s tough to complain about the deal you’re getting after you agreed to it knowing full well what you could expect to make. It’s just that, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t want to do anything else with your life other than fight – and you probably should be, if you want to last in a sport this tough – and if the available financial options for most range from dismal to mediocre, who can really blame you for saying so?

It’s one thing to take issue with the form the message takes, but another thing to claim that fighters should shut up and be grateful for whatever they get in exchange for breaking their bones and shedding their blood. If there’s a problem, it’s the fighters who have to speak up. And if they can’t speak up without immediately distancing themselves from that speech, they can’t expect much to change.

Like White says, everybody wants more money. Few get it just by sitting back and waiting.

(Pictured: Tim Kennedy)