The UFC and its comparison to global leagues like the NFL and NBA have been a topic of debate for years. As the apex MMA organization, the UFC has grown into a $12 billion giant in a relatively short time, and the future looks bright. It’s not a stretch to say there’s still a long way for Dana White’s promotion to match the financial power of the major American sports leagues. Don’t believe it? Just take a look at this NBA star’s wild prediction!
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Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has been making waves in the MMA content creation scene with his podcast. The former UFC light heavyweight champion regularly invites stellar guests, and this time, it was Golden State Warriors star and the great Stephen Curry’s teammate, Gary Payton II, who dropped an amazing prediction about the future of NBA stars that left Rampage speechless!
Rampage kicked off the conversation at the Jaxxon podcast, by asking, “Bear said you got a 15-billion-dollar deal.” (He probably meant million.) Payton replied, “Yeah, the league is our revenue, and we create a lot of money, so it goes out. The numbers are getting crazier and crazier. By, like, 2030, I feel like somebody’s gonna have a billion-dollar contract. Like Wemby.” A stunned Rampage answered, “No way!”
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SAITAMA, JAPAN – DECEMBER 29, 2019: American MMA fighter Quinton Rampage Jackson ahead of his Bellator 237 heavyweight main event against Russian rival Fedor Emelianenko at Saitama Super Arena Bellator 237 is a cross-promotional event between Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation. Valery Sharifulin/TASS PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxONLY TS0C9193
Payton was referring to French basketball phenom Victor Wembanyama, widely regarded as the most promising prospect of his generation and the No. 1 overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2023 NBA Draft. With the league itself striking a massive $76 billion 11-year media rights deal with Disney and other major networks last year, who knows? A massive contract could be on the horizon for one of them, if not in the billions. The NBA itself struck a new multiyear media rights agreement in July 2024 that analysts say will pump roughly $76 billion into the sport’s broadcast ecosystem over 11 years — a deal that helps explain why enormous player contracts are no longer unthinkable.
Well, we’re back to the question of whether the UFC will ever reach anything close to that level. Brendan Schaub has suggested a way Dana White and the company could take a step forward. However, before ‘Big Brown’, a prominent UFC fighter, almost believed the promotion would never get there!
Colby Covington once claimed the UFC would never become like the NBA
In 2019, Colby Covington snapped at Dana White and the UFC, even demanding his release from the company. The reason? ‘Chaos’ was deeply disappointed with the promotion, mainly because of the matchmaking decisions. In an interview with the B.J. Penn website, Covington even entertained the idea of leaving for Bellator to face Rory MacDonald out of frustration with the UFC. Not only that!
He also took a shot at Dana White’s dream of making the UFC as big as the NFL or NBA. The former 170-pound interim champion said, “They wanna be legitimate like a f***ing sport, like the NFL, like the NBA. You can’t be legitimate when a team wins a championship and you don’t even let them go to the championship game.” ‘Chaos didn’t stop there.
Further throwing shade at the UFC head honcho, he added, “This isn’t a sport anymore, it’s a joke, it’s a circus, and it’s being run by a bunch of bozos. You got Uncle Fester (Dana White) up there, sitting in his power position, and it’s just a complete joke.” Well, Covington was really fired up at that moment. However, as the clock has ticked on, the UFC has firmly established its niche among sports enthusiasts. However, getting to the heights of the NFL or NBA is still a work in progress.
Could the UFC ever hit the big time and land a $76 billion deal like the NBA? Time will tell! We’ll just have to play the waiting game. As we dive into this, what’s your take on the divide between the NFL and the UFC? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
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Jyotsna Rai