"Luke dropping truth bombs" - Fans show support for Luke Rockhold as he blasts UFC for underwhelming bonuses
Luke Rockhold recently put the UFC on blast, accusing the promotion of paying its fighters underwhelming bonuses. Judging by the reaction, it seems that he has the support of many fans.
In a video uploaded to MMA Fighting's Instagram handle, Rockhold criticized the promotion for paying its fighters the same $50,000 bonuses despite its value being on the rise. Here's what the 37-year-old said:
"What the f*** are we doing here? F***ing $50,000 bonuses are going on for like f***ing two decades. The valuation of the company is going up. F***ing billions of dollars and we're still stuck on $50,000 bonus checks! What the f*** is this? People need to wake up."
Rockhold added:
"Remember when they were doing 100,000 bonuses when Jake Shields fought Georges St-Pierre and now we're still stuck on $50,000 bonuses. I mean how many billions have we gone up in valuation since that fight. And we've gone backward."
Rockhold also stated that UFC fighters should stop getting excited about the $50,000 bonuses that they can make through their performances. The Californian suggested that the promotion should start paying fighters who deliver in the range of $100,000 to $200,000 for their performances.
Taking to the comments, several fans agreed with Rockhold's sentiment, with one user stating that the promotion should at least increase the bonuses to $100K.
Check out some of the fan reactions below:
Luke Rockhold makes his return at UFC 278 on August 20
Luke Rockhold is gearing up for his octagon return against Paulo Costa at UFC 278 next Saturday. The former middleweight champion will be stepping inside the cage after over two years of inactivity.
Rockhold last competed against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239. The 37-year-old was handed his second consecutive KO loss that night, with his prior defeat coming to Yoel Romero in early 2018. Rockhold is currently 1-3 in his last four bouts and is in need of a win against the Brazilian.
Costa is also coming off back-to-back losses, which are his only two career defeats. With that in mind, 'Borrachinha' will be equally determined to get back to his winning ways and do it in dominant fashion.
The Brazilian most recently dropped a unanimous decision against Marvin Vettori in October 2021. That was after his failed bid to capture the 185-pound title against Israel Adesanya in late 2020.