In the past few months, the issue of fighter pay in the UFC has become one of the most prevalent talking points in MMA, with fighters like Jon Jones, Henry Cejudo, and Jorge Masvidal all speaking out against the UFC’s pay. But while those fighters all take issues with the overall dollars and cents the UFC is offering up, longtime commentator Joe Rogan has a separate fighter pay concern: the win-bonus structure.
In the UFC, a vast majority of fighters have their purse split into a base salary and win bonus, often of equal sum, meaning that in every bout, fighters are functionally gambling half their salary on a win.