Regardless of the outcome of White and Ngannou’s standoff, has irreparable damage already been done to the UFC?
Jake Paul has an amazing talent for knowing exactly how to get under people’s skin. Yes, his foray into combat sports has been laughable and he’s one fight with someone who knows what he’s doing away from being knocked out, but he may still leave a lasting legacy in the fighting world thanks to the verbal sparring match he picked with Dana White.
Although it should be said that it wasn’t necessarily Paul’s articulation or way with words that has caused a potentially seismic knock-on effect in the world of UFC, but rather the fact that he kept on saying it so many times that people eventually listened. Indeed, in typical Paul style, he wouldn’t keep quiet during his war with White and brought the issue of the UFC’s current fight purses to the forefront of the conversation in the sport.
While Jake Paul’s conflict with Dana White is most likely self-serving, it would be foolish to ignore the fact his fanbase and social media presence could provide an invaluable platform to spotlight the issue of fighter pay in the UFC.
By @ZidanSports https://t.co/EktLbO6Fu2
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) February 1, 2022
In short, the YouTuber-turned-boxer thinks that UFC president Dana White is shortchanging his fighters by not giving them what they’re worth. Now, at first, it seemed like a fanciful claim when the 25-year-old came out with it last year but fast forward to the present day and Francis Ngannou has, in effect, gone on strike as he demands more money for his fights.
If you want to know how serious he is then you only need to look at the latest UFC odds for upcoming bouts in 2022 to know that the 35-year-old is willing to call time on his career if he doesn’t get what he wants as his name isn’t on any bill for the foreseeable future. In other words, he’s determined to have his contract relooked at and won’t fight until it has been.
Walked in as Champ and walked out as Champ. #ANDSTILL pic.twitter.com/9xIl8EsotG
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) February 2, 2022
Whether the UFC heavyweight champion gets what he wants or not is another matter. In fact, it may indeed be a tough battle to win given that he is contracted to the UFC after agreeing to fight for a fee of $600,000 per fight. If that sounds like a lot to you then consider for a moment that over in the boxing heavyweight division, Anthony Joshua is poised to accept a $20 million check for merely stepping aside and letting others fight. What’s more, the Englishman doesn’t currently hold any world title belts like Ngannou does which you could argue is another startling eye-opener.
Anthony Joshua to accept £15m fee and step aside for Tyson Fury-Oleksander Usyk fight. @GarethADaviesdt reports.https://t.co/37NPyoC09G
— Telegraph Sport (@TelegraphSport) January 23, 2022
With this being the case, you can see where Ngannou is coming from and why he wants more money for what he does. As briefly touched on, it may be a hard case to win and, tellingly, White doesn’t look to be in the mood to back down and begin giving in to these demands. You can understand why given that if he did, he would have a long line of UFC fighters at his door wanting to renegotiate their contracts.
But then you have to ask yourself if the damage has already been done? There is now an active conversation being had by agents and their fighters about the disparity in pay between the UFC and other combat sports. Dana White is in for a monumental battle that may end with him having to redraw the UFC’s business model.
