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UFCs Frank Mir on 'adequate' fighter pay

He also mainly discusses his mental state heading into fights:

(Note: Mir raked in $66,000 for his most recent performance against Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.)

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66,000 is pretty good

by teddy on Feb 1, 2008 11:18 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, that is an above average salary for a year of work for the average Joe. Not to mention they usually get other income from advertising and stuff like that which helps. None of the top fighters in the UFC are having any money problems. When you get down to the dregs, they aren’t making much but they wouldn’t make much anywhere else either.

The top fighters in the UFC potentially could go somewhere else and make more money but they would know they are cheating themselves and their fans because they would never be fighting the top guys in the world.

Just like Gomi and Fedor before him, nobody will ever know how good they really are because they chose to take millions to go to a crappy organization that is going to match them up with tomatoes. I honestly think that neither one of them WANT to come to the UFC because they are scared of losing their status as one of the best. They know they will have all these people who only look at their record and not who they have fought.

by JD on Feb 2, 2008 12:15 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, that is an above average salary for a year of work for the average Joe. Not to mention they usually get other income from advertising and stuff like that which helps. None of the top fighters in the UFC are having any money problems. When you get down to the dregs, they aren’t making much but they wouldn’t make much anywhere else either.

The top fighters in the UFC potentially could go somewhere else and make more money but they would know they are cheating themselves and their fans because they would never be fighting the top guys in the world.

Just like Gomi and Fedor before him, nobody will ever know how good they really are because they chose to take millions to go to a crappy organization that is going to match them up with tomatoes. I honestly think that neither one of them WANT to come to the UFC because they are scared of losing their status as one of the best. They know they will have all these people who only look at their record and not who they have fought.

Almost all the top ranked 10 LW in the world ARE NOT in the UFC. BJ shouldnt be ranked even top 3 until he beats the real champ SHERK who the hell did he beat again….o yeah some guy with like 12 fucken losses. Gomi should come to the ufc doh just so he can rape the talent then leave.

by john on Feb 2, 2008 12:47 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

I’m no fighter, but I have no idea how these guys make a living at it. That’s $66k if he wins, about half that if he doesn’t.

And you gotta figure that he’s going to be paying for travel, gym fees, license fees, insurance fees and his sparring partner’s/trainer’s time.

This is all assuming they’re able to stay healthy and winning. The lighter fighters really get shafted. Frank Trigg only got $10k for beating Kazuo Misaki.

@JD: No way about Gomi & Fedor. Fedor’s contract with M-1 actually allows him to fight in the UFC, but the UFC management only wants exclusive fighters. Fedor actually specified that Randy gets a million bucks if they can fight in M-1.

You know what Gomi made for his last fight in Pride? $20k. If the alternative is to take an offer worth a million bucks, I’d sure has hell take the money to go to a smaller promotion.

by FC on Feb 2, 2008 12:58 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

dude, this is per fight, and they usually fight like 1-3 times a year

Loose all 3 fights thats about 90k

win all 3 fights thats over 150k

win 1 loose 2 he still has money

by George on Sep 13, 2009 12:52 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

66K is very nice considering the brevity of their work and they have the right to fight 3-5x per year, realistically 2-4 times per. I mean aside from their extra bonuses and sponsors, their not working very long in the octagon “usually” only a few minutes. If they happen to be a Ranyd, Chuck, or Rampage i.e. a superstar then they deserve more, but not the Oscar De La Hoya/Mike Tyson money. They shouldn’t get obscene amounts like 20-30 million per because that would taint the sport and skew it like boxing where people get lazy and unmotivated and fight nobodies. If your starting out, I see nothing wrong with an up and comer only getting 2-5K…I mean they have to establish themselves first.

by KINGKONG9 on Feb 2, 2008 12:58 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

their not working very long in the octagon “usually” only a few minutes

Wow dude, show some respect. They don’t work 15 minutes a fight. They train for a fight for months, and they often have to heal after a fight too.

by FC on Feb 2, 2008 1:03 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Jesus I would hate to have a conversation with Frank Mir when he’s drunk. I dont think he’d ever shut up.

by c-war on Feb 2, 2008 1:20 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

66K is very nice considering the brevity of their work and they have the right to fight 3-5x per year, realistically 2-4 times per. I mean aside from their extra bonuses and sponsors, their not working very long in the octagon “usually” only a few minutes. If they happen to be a Ranyd, Chuck, or Rampage i.e. a superstar then they deserve more, but not the Oscar De La Hoya/Mike Tyson money. They shouldn’t get obscene amounts like 20-30 million per because that would taint the sport and skew it like boxing where people get lazy and unmotivated and fight nobodies. If your starting out, I see nothing wrong with an up and comer only getting 2-5K…I mean they have to establish themselves first.

The fighting isn’t the only part of working. The real work for the fighter is the training that they do every day: that’s what consumes most of their time and that is what the fight money pays for. For an example, say a mixed martial artist fights 4 times a year, earning 3K for each appearance and a further 3K for a win. Assuming that this exemplar fighter wins all 4 fights, he’s taking home US$24,000 for that year. To put that in British terms, that’s £12,000, which is almost minimum wage. It’s very hard to maintain a family and/or a household on that kind of money. Now, a fighter can get another job – a ‘real’ job, if you will – but that’s time taken off from training. That loss in training might well lead to losses in the cage, which could lead to a loss of contract and thus loss of livelihood. Fighters should get paid a decent amount of fight money, because it pays for their year-round training. But on top of that, they should also get a percentage of PPV money, and/or merchandising (inc. DVD sales) – they can put that money to their retirement fund, for when they can no longer fight.

I agree that getting tens of millions to fight, like some boxers do is ridiculous. It’s especially galling for a mixed martial artist, because MMAs practise real fighting and could probably take any boxer.

At the end of the day, fighters are the draw. They bring in the crowds, it’s their fights that sell the DVDs. Fighters should be getting paid a lot more than what are currently.

by zulu9812 on Feb 2, 2008 2:26 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

cool vid. thanks for the vid.
:)

by MMA Wallpapers SF on Feb 2, 2008 3:24 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

“Almost all the top ranked 10 LW in the world ARE NOT in the UFC. BJ shouldnt be ranked even top 3 until he beats the real champ SHERK who the hell did he beat again….o yeah some guy with like 12 fucken losses. Gomi should come to the ufc doh just so he can rape the talent then leave”.

BJ Penn IS THE BEST POUND FOR POUND ON EARTH! oh yea…and he smashed Gomi already. Oh one more guy Matt Hughes who smashed Shawn “the roid shark Sherk” LOMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Kahaluu Caz! on Feb 2, 2008 3:40 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Almost all the top ranked 10 LW in the world ARE NOT in the UFC. BJ shouldnt be ranked even top 3 until he beats the real champ SHERK who the hell did he beat again…

Penn has already fought Gomi, and Penn battered him…

by Matt on Feb 2, 2008 7:50 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

that’s a big ass dog.

by blackBEERd on Feb 2, 2008 8:33 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

With 66G’s you’d think he’d buy a cooler looking couch….

by Freddy on Feb 2, 2008 10:03 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Lol Frank Mir is an awesome guy.

by SixT-4 on Feb 2, 2008 10:27 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

BJ shouldnt be ranked even top 3 until he beats the real champ SHERK who the hell did he beat again….o yeah some guy with like 12 fucken losses. Gomi should come to the ufc doh just so he can rape the talent then leave.

BJ already tooled Gomi. BJ has fought FAR better competition than Sherk. Who the hell has Sherk beaten? Oh, a green Kenny Florian and a teenaged Karo Parisyan. What a resume.

by Pat on Feb 2, 2008 10:27 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Is Brock Lesnars married SABLE?

by john on Feb 2, 2008 11:00 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

The spoon bit was hilarious.

by RobH86 on Feb 2, 2008 11:14 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

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