"I was due about a quarter of a million" - Ex-UFC fighter advocates for better pay despite making life-changing money
Stevie Ray is following along with the ever-unfolding Ultimate Fighting Championship antitrust lawsuit as he feels he's owed a lot of money from his time in the UFC.
Ray will return to the sport after previously retiring from MMA for the second time and will headline PFL Europe 3 this weekend. 'Braveheart' will test skills with Lewis Long in that Sept. 28 main event set to go down inside of the PFL smart cage as the proud son of Glasgow fights there once again.
Speaking on Bowks Talking Bouts about if he's been following along with the UFC anti-trust lawsuit developments, Ray said:
"Yeah, f****** right I have. Because I think the way it was looking, I was due about a quarter of a million. 250 grand the way it was looking, adding it up. I can't remember the exact stats but you got a certain amount in money per fight. I had 11 fights in the UFC in that time. I co-main evented the UFC twice, Ross Pearson and Michael Johnson."
"Yeah, so f****** right. I mean I hope we win. It's going to trial. I've been following it. People think the UFC might settle before then. I don't know what the best thing is to do. I just know we all never got what we deserved."
Check out Stevie Ray discussing the UFC anti-trust lawsuit below (10:54):
Stevie Ray's run competing in the UFC
Stevie Ray has achieved great things in the PFL including earning a pair of wins over former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and becoming a 2022 PFL tournament finalist. He mentioned in the above interview that doctors with the UFC diagnosed him as being unfit to fight in MMA, leading to his first retirement from.
Ray competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship from April 2015 to October 2019 and was able to accomplish notable feats during his tenure.
The 34-year-old began his UFC career with three straight wins in the octagon before falling short to Alan Patrick by way of a unanimous decision in September 2016. He would then earn a pair of statement wins over Ross Pearson and Joe Lauzon, before dropping back to back bouts to Paul Felder and Kajan Johnson.
Ray finished his UFC career with wins over Jessin Ayari and Michael Johnson, bookending a loss to Leonardo Santos.