Justin Gaethje has been one of the UFC’s most entertaining
fighters during his tenure. | Getty/UFC
The
UFC will get $7.7 billion dollars over seven years from its new
broadcasting deal with Paramount. According to Justin
Gaethje, none of the promotion’s financial windfall is
reflected in his fight purse for UFC
324.
The 14-time Octagon veteran discussed fighter pay during his media
day session ahead of Saturday’s event. “The Highlight” pointed out
that he hasn’t hit $1 million in bonuses despite being a frequent
winner, and he also disputed Daniel
Cormier’s recent claim that
salaries were increasing across the board due to the new media
rights deal.
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“To have 14 bonuses and not equal up to $1 million is not right,”
Gaethje said (video via MMAjunkie.com). “It’s not right. It should be a lot
more than that and I should have had opportunities to do smarter
things with my money but I don’t and I haven’t.
“I hear Daniel
Cormier saying everybody is going to get paid more on this
card. I’m not getting $1 more than I would have if this deal did
not happen.”
As a refresher, here is what Cormier, a former UFC two-division
champion and a current commentator for the promotion, claimed
during an appearance on the “Weighing In” podcast:
“They’re already getting more money, that’s the difference,”
Cormier said in December. “People always talk about, ‘What’s the
UFC going to do for the fighter? Well pay-per-view’s going away,
what are they going to do?’ I know guys now that are making more
money than they did even when they were making pay-per-view,
because pay-per-views just, maybe, weren’t selling as much as they
used to.”
Shortly after the UFC-Paramount partnership was announced in
August, UFC CEO Dana White guaranteed that
bonuses would increase. However, he made no definitive
statements regarding overall fighter pay. As of Wednesday, there
had been no announcement regarding how much post-fight payouts for
“Performance of the Night” and Fight of the Night” would go up.
Focus on the Positive
It wasn’t all bittersweet for Gaethje, who at 37 is likely nearing
the end of his UFC career. The former
World Series of Fighting Champion also reflected on some of the
good he has done with his earnings.
“I’m happy to achieve what I have achieved,” Gaethje said. “The
best thing I did was probably invest in a commercial property. I
purchased a house in Arizona that’s like a mile away from my
parents. My sister’s renting that from me now. But really just
being able to help my family. Help my parents, help my brothers and
sisters. Give them Christmas gifts that I would have never been
able to give them. Take them on vacations that I never would have
been able to. “That’s the smartest thing I did because you can
never get that time back with your family. It’s huge for me.”
Gaethje will face Paddy
Pimblett for the interim lightweight title in the UFC 324
headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The
main card airs on Paramount+ beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.