UFC’s fighter pay problem has come into the limelight once again at UFC London. And Dana White is taking the brunt of the ensuing backlash. This comes as Kurtis Campbell and Danny Silva collided on Saturday night. Campbell, unbeaten and predicted to win, started confidently in the first round. But the second round told a completely different story. 

Silva wasted no time, landing a powerful right hook that dropped Campbell almost immediately. Though Campbell managed to get back up, Silva maintained relentless pressure, following up with multiple right hands that repeatedly sent him crashing down. Unable to recover under the barrage, Campbell forced the referee’s intervention just 31 seconds into the round.

The TKO victory marked a statement performance for Danny Silva and a tough, abrupt end to Kurtis Campbell’s promising debut. Despite the balls-to-the-wall action, it was the post-fight interview that stole the show. The Brazilian confessed that he was broke and didn’t even have funds for his next fight camp, begging the UFC top brass for the performance of the night bonus. 

Fighter pay in the UFC has been a long-running issue. The promotion treats its fighters as independent contractors, who are paid per fight. Unlike other sports, UFC fighters make merely 19-20 percent of the promotion’s overall revenue. They have a tier system for paying their fighters, segregating them based on experience, popularity, ranking, and event significance.

While champions/superstars could command over a million in purses, the lower-tier fighters, like Silva, are often paid $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. Combine that with a lack of fights over a period of a year without the freedom to fight for other promotions, and making a living while paying for fight camps, equipment, trainers, etc. becomes impossible.

The promotion does include compliance pay based on the number of fights, and fight of the night, performance of the night bonuses, but not everyone gets them. So, after hearing Silva’s plea, fans resonated with him, and they made their thoughts clear over at X.

Dana White and UFC were made to look bad thanks to Danny Silva 

One user urged the UFC CEO to pay the fighters better. The user wrote, “Danny Silva: ‘I’m broke, I need money to pay for some camps.’ [Dana White], pay upcoming fighters better.” While White has claimed their new deal with Paramount+ will improve fighter pay, Justin Gaethje has disputed that claim. Although Dana White has claimed that ‘The Highlight’ was offered more money, he never responded. Still, it’s unclear whether the same benefit has reached someone like Silva. 

A second fan warned Dana White and the UFC about how Silva’s statement made the promotion look. The user posted: “Danny Silva telling the world he’s broke, and can barely afford to pay for his next training camp, (minutes after he just knocked out a dude,) is a bad look for the UFC.” But this is nothing new. Jake Paul has been criticizing the MMA promotion for years, but nothing has changed. Now, Paul’s MVP is promoting an MMA event, and they managed to sign Nate Diaz, who snubbed a UFC return for it. 

Someone else lashed out at UFC. The fan wrote, “Danny Silva said he’s broke, but the greedy f**ks of TKO don’t want to pay.” Since UFC is almost a monopoly, they can do whatever they like, and fighters would still line up to join their ranks. 

Another user was heartbroken after hearing Silva. The user added: “‘I’m broke right now’ in a very defeated tone from Danny Silva was absolutely soul-crushing. F**k how the UFC treats its unranked fighters. He deserves that 100k bonus.” Notably, since transitioning to Paramount, the promotion has increased its $50,000 fight of the night and performance of the night bonuses. 

Someone else reflected on a UFC ad during the live stream and how it contrasted the situation of the fighters in the promotion. The user claimed, “Very ironic how five minutes before this AI ad, Danny Silva was talking about how broke he is and begged Dana for a performance bonus.” It’s yet to be seen whether Silva gets his wish granted. 

Clearly, fans are still frustrated with how the UFC pays its fighters, and it often feels like only stars like Conor McGregor get their true worth. What do you think about fighter pay and Silva’s plea?