UFC fighters deserve residual royalty if injured - MMA legend Dan Severn offers suggestions to improve fighter pay (Exclusive)
Dan Severn weighed in on fighter pay and how the UFC could make improvements that would help take better care of fighters once they retire.
During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Severn spoke about how the UFC takes care of fighters while they're under contract as opposed to when they are no longer with the promotion. He complimented them for ensuring that the fighters competing are taken care of should they suffer an injury, but he offered suggestions on what they could start doing.
He said:
"There really isn't anything more to it that they really should be doing something more for the athletes overall...There should be some type of guidelines that after you've done maybe x number of matches [fights] in the UFC, you're now a fully vested athlete and there should be some type of residual type of royalty that you should be receiving after that." [47:27 - 47:56]
The UFC Hall of Famer also suggested another long-term financial royalty that would be a kin to some of the other North American sports leagues like the NFL and NBA. He mentioned that the UFC could have funded a residual program that would have benefited past fighters, saying:
"There's no reason that the UFC couldn't have had just every year an operation just throw a million bucks into this athlete's fund that you have to where in the first year, you're only gonna have that measly million dollars right there but after 30 years, you got a 30 million [dollar] nest egg." [48:57 - 49:18]
Severn made excellent suggestions that would be feasible from a financial standpoint, but it would come down to fighters pushing the UFC to introduce a residual program.
Check out the full interview:
Dan Severn frequently served as the UFC's athlete representative during the 90's
The Beast!
Dan Severn hanging with us on our birthday! #UFC25Years #UFCDenver https://t.co/LagOg9CaVo
Dan Severn accomplished a great deal during his Hall of Fame MMA career and wrestling career. Based on his background, it's no surprise that he would often serve as the UFC's athlete representative during the 90s.
During the aforementioned interview, 'The Beast' mentioned why he would represent the promotion when there were political campaigns to shut down their event before taking place, saying:
"Why? Because well first off, I'm a college graduate, I have a degree, I mean I've never been in a fight in my entire life, I work with law enforcement, corrections, air marshall, military...Was I the norm? Oh, at the time, no I was not the norm." [14:47 - 15:09]
The former UFC Superfight champion was an excellent representative not only for his education and status in the sport, but his athletic background in wrestling, and being an alternate at the Olympics added legitimacy to the UFC being an athletic competition.