"Some of these fu****g people have zero following" - Sean O'Malley understands why Dana White doesn't want to increase minimum fighter pay
![Sean O'Malley & Justin Bieber [Images courtesy @sugaseanmma on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/01/f39fa-16414855605572-1920.jpg?w=500)
Sean O'Malley understands why Dana White refuses to increase minimum fighter pay amid the increasing pressure being put on the UFC’s pay structure.
Jake Paul has recently drawn even more eyeballs to how much the UFC is paying its lower-profile fighters. He recently offered to retire from the sport of boxing if Dana White increased the base fighter pay from $12,000 a fight to $50,000.
Jake Paul also made several more demands, as can be seen below:
Happy new year @danawhite. Here is a real challenge for you…
I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to: https://t.co/bJScDVITvL
Unsurprisingly, Dana White has not budged on his attitude towards fighter pay, much to the dismay and outrage of many a fan and fighter.
However, speaking on an episode of the TimboSugarShow, Sean O'Malley stated the following in regards to Dana White's stance on the situation:
"I don't even blame him. It's like some of these f***ing people have zero following. They're not making the UFC 100,000 [dollars]. They're not making the UFC 50,000 [dollars]. They're not making the UFC any money really. But that's just from a business perspective. From Dana's business perspective. I can see that."
Check out the full video below:
Sean O'Malley's social media following
Sean O'Malley's points are valid to a certain extent. He doesn't have a record that overly stands out and yet seemingly gets paid considerably more than the average fighter on account of the huge following he has made on social media.
O'Malley's Instagram account currently has 2.2 million followers, whilst he also has 358,000 followers on Twitter. A further 135,000 follow him on his Twitch account, whilst his YouTube channel has 366,000 subscribers.
This huge following makes him an incredibly lucrative asset for the UFC to have. That's resulted in O'Malley featuring on numerous pay-per-view cards whilst the likes of former 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz languish on the prelims.
To put Sean O'Malley's internet fame into context, the afore-mentioned Dominick Cruz, a former champion who also dabbles in the commentary side of things, has only half the Instagram followers as O'Malley.