C. Sonnen presenting his program on YouTube. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
It seems that the UFC fighters' remuneration discussion is far from over. Former fighter and current commentator, Chael Sonnen gave her opinion on the controversy after the company's fighter, Sarah Alpar, opened a virtual 'fundraiser' so that fans could help her prepare for a fight against Erin Blanchfield, which takes place on September 18th.
See too
In a video on his 'YouTube' channel, Sonnen compared the current scenario with the one he presented for the first time in Ultimate, in 2005. The North American claims that the 'minimum wage' has increased sixfold and, therefore, must be taken in consideration.
“Whoever believes that fighters were hired and didn’t pay enough is Dana (White). And now they're trying to use the same argument and act like he's doing something wrong. When I fought for the first time in the UFC, the year was 2005. I received US$2.000 to perform and another US$2.000 to win. I couldn't believe how much money I had in my pocket when I received that check. $2.000 in 2005,” Sonnen said.
Former challenger for the middleweight (up to 83,9kg) and light heavyweight (up to 93kg) belts, Chael Sonnen further opined that there is no other company that had a higher increase in the 15-year period.
“The minimum now is six times more. I will give two tickets to anyone who shows me any company in the world that is paying six times (more) now than it was paying 15 years ago. If you can prove to me that they pay at least six times what they did a mere 15 years ago, I would buy you two awesome tickets to whatever UFC you would like to watch.”
The controversy has been dragging on and is already affecting the company's athletes. Three of the biggest names today, Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou e Paulo borrachinha have already publicly complained about their payments compared to those of y and celebrities in boxing.
Comments