Dana White uses 40-year-old "journeyman" Jim Miller's million-dollar earnings to defend UFC fighter pay structure
Over the years, UFC CEO Dana White has faced a great deal of criticism about the UFC's fighter payment structure. However, White hasn't budged one bit.
UFC fighter pay is a fiercely debated topic due to concerns over fighter compensation and revenue distribution relative to other sports leagues. According to White, it is better to provide fighters with incentives to keep them motivated to compete rather than paying them absurdly high salaries. He claims that if fighters were paid millions of dollars per bout, they would stop fighting.
During a recent appearance on The Truth Podcast, White spoke to Vivek Ramaswamy, where he mentioned UFC veteran Jim Miller's million-dollar earnings to back the promotion's fighter pay scale. He stated:
''We got a guy right now who's 40 years old, and he's on this hot streak, man. His name is Jim Miller. He's been around forever... He's been around since we bought this company, and he's still fighting. And he's on this hot streak right now... He's going to fight on UFC 300.''
White continued:
''And this is a guy who's been, you know, I guess you could call him a journeyman in boxing right? If you ask most people, they wouldn't know who Jim Miller is, and the guy's made millions of dollars.''
Catch Dana White's comments below (1.03):
Jim Miller famously competed at UFC 100 and UFC 200. The American will take on Bobby Green at the historic UFC 300 card slated for April in what will be his 44th bout in the promotion.
Dana White responds to rumors of UFC Saudi Arabia postponement due to weak fight card
The UFC was initially set to have its inaugural event in Saudi Arabia this March, which has now been pushed to June. Following reports that the event was postponed due to the host's being underwhelmed by the proposed fight card, Dana White made sure to clear the air.
Speaking to Aaron Bronsteter of Sportsnet, the UFC CEO stated:
"We moved the card, and I know there’s been a lot of talk about that the card wasn’t good enough. We never even proposed a card to them. We didn’t tell Saudi Arabia about one fight so that’s all bulls**t. We never even proposed a card to them. What we wanted to do is, every time the UFC puts on an event, we want to blow the doors off the place.''
White added that the card has been postponed as the promotion is targeting certain fighters to feature at the event, who will only be available this summer rather than March.
Check out Dana White's comments below (1.20):