“Don’t believe the b—t. Don’t believe all the stuff you hear. These guys make a lot of money,” Dana White said back in 2021 during an interview with Yahoo Sports. Still, the UFC’s practice of allocating only around 20% of its revenue to fighters has long drawn criticism. The promotion’s pay structure continues to spark lawsuits and subtle jabs. Time and again, the UFC has found itself at the center of heated debates over fighter pay. 

The comparison with the NFL—a $163 billion giant that pays out roughly 48% of its revenue to players—only adds fuel to the fire. Many UFC fighters believe they deserve a similar cut, especially considering their job involves getting punched in the face for a living. At least, Henry Cejudo believes that should be the case. 

Henry Cejudo subtly jabs Dana White while talking about his Kazakhstan trip payout

While recovering from his eye-poke loss to Song Yadong back in February, Henry Cejudo has been busy with a few side quests. Most recently, he traveled to Kazakhstan and scored a grappling win over former ONE flyweight champ Kairat Akhmetov—his first victory outside the cage since 2022. After the match, ‘Triple C’ bragged about the payday and argued that at least the top UFC stars should be making NFL-level money.

Cejudo during the Pound 4 Pound podcast said, “We should be making that NBA, NFL type of money. We put our bodies and everything, I don’t know, man, it just makes you think, even though we’re famous. It’s more of that celebrity status. If I told you that amount of money. I don’t want to say it here! I made a whole lot of money, I made a lot of presents. Like, I made enough money for the year to survive, dude. That’s how much money they gave me.”

Fighter pay has consistently been the most criticized aspect of the UFC, and Henry Cejudo is far from the only one speaking out. Like many others, he’s pointed out that the staged compensation structure often falls short of expectations. But this isn’t the first time the former two-division champ has voiced his frustration—at one point. He even floated the idea of starting a fighters’ union to stand up to Dana White.

Henry Cejudo considered rebelling against White over low compensation

Yes, it’s true—the dispute between Henry Cejudo and Dana White escalated that much. It happened when ‘Triple C’ tried to fight Alexander Volkanovski after Max Holloway’s fight fell through for UFC 272. He wanted to step up against the featherweight king, but the promotion gave the shot to ‘The Korean Zombie’ at UFC 273 instead.

During an interview with MMA Junkie in 2021, a fuming Henry Cejudo said, “They don’t want to pay, man,” Cejudo said. “It’s plain and simple. They don’t want to pay. Dana doesn’t want to pay. (If) they pay me, they got to pay the rest. And I’m out here. I’m not here to say to start a union. What I’m here to say is like, ‘Hey, man, everybody should be compensated individually.’”

That was definitely a tense situation. However, Henry Cejudo ended up making a comeback to the UFC, and as we know, he didn’t lead any union against Dana White. Instead, ‘Triple C’ accepted the fights the promotion offered. He then went on a three-fight losing streak, which wiped out his chances to reclaim the bantamweight championship he gave up after retiring in 2020.

Will fighters’ pay ever rise to match the NFL or NBA? That’s a complicated question with a lot of nuances. Only time will tell if fighters see bigger checks or if things remain as they are now. That being said, what do you think? Should UFC fighters get paid like other bigger giants? Please share your thoughts in the comment box.