{"id":414801,"date":"2026-01-15T14:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414801\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:29:08","slug":"lawsuit-sheds-detail-on-ufcs-entry-level-pay-of-10k-to-show-10k-to-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/414801\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit sheds detail on UFC\u2019s entry level pay of $10k to show, $10k to win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text messages from a Brazilian lawsuit<\/a> exchanged between a UFC fighter\u2019s management and the promotion\u2019s matchmaker are shining some light into exactly how the UFC pay scale works for new signees.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a testament to how little we really know about UFC pay that the initial rate a fighter gets when they sign isn\u2019t even properly understood by MMA managers themselves. In this exchange between UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard and MMA manager Marcelo Brigadeiro, Maynard corrects Brigadeiro on the subject when he tries to get his client, UFC women\u2019s flyweight Taila Santos, more money.<\/p>\n

Since 2015, the entry rate for signing with the UFC is $10k\/$10k, which means a fighter gets $10,000 to show up and $10,000 more if they win. But around 2020, commission pay disclosures showed that some new fighters were getting $12k\/$12k \u2026 but not those that appeared on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series, who were still getting $10k\/$10k.<\/p>\n

That always seemed strange, considering Contender Series is supposed to be where the hottest prospects and potential future champions go through. Why are they making up to $4,000 less per fight compared to fighters showing up on the prelims of UFC Apex cards?<\/p>\n

\u201cA new deal would be appreciated,\u201d Brigadeiro wrote to Maynard on WhatsApp. \u201cTaila is on the DWCS deal and makes less money than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DWCS is not less than normal at all,\u201d Maynard replied. \u201cIt\u2019s exactly what people get when they newly sign. Where do you get your information?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts with 10+10, any other deal goes with 12+12,\u201d Brigadeiro wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not correct,\u201d Maynard sent back. \u201cIt 12\/12 if someone signs late notice. I will give her 4 fight new deal starting at 20\/20 up by 3s. But to confirm your info is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

This message exchange was from August 2020 but $10k\/$10k still represents the UFC\u2019s entry pay nearly six years later. As mentioned before, $10k\/$10k has been the standard since 2015, when it was bumped up from $8k\/$8k. That was instituted in 2013 \u2026 before that you had guys making $6k\/$6k, and in 2011 there were guys fighting for $4k\/$4k.<\/p>\n

If the UFC had continued to increase their base pay for the past ten years like they did between 2011 and 2016, new fighters would be making $20k\/$20k, which \u2026 is still crazy low considering how much money<\/a> the UFC makes, but would at least put UFC signees ahead of a full-time McDonalds fry cook (before expenses).<\/p>\n

Do you want to be a f**king fighter?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Text messages from a Brazilian lawsuit exchanged between a UFC fighter\u2019s management and the promotion\u2019s matchmaker are shining…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85,1396],"class_list":{"0":"post-414801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}