Watch: When Dana White explained his incentive-based structure of fighter pay at Stanford University
Dana White has received a ton of criticism over the years about the UFC's fighter-payment structure. White, however, has not budged one bit. His philosophy regarding fighter pay in the UFC hasn’t changed in over a decade and his lecture at Stanford University back in 2013 is proof of the same.
According to the UFC president, instead of paying fighters unreasonably large amounts of money, it's better to incentivize them so that they continue to be hungry to perform. White said that if fighters were paid millions of dollars for every bout, they wouldn't fight anymore.
Instead, the MMA pioneer chose to award certain bonus rewards to fighters apart from their fixed paychecks for fights. This encourages them to perform better, entertain fans and help the business grow. That's how the idea of added bonuses such as 'Fight of the Night', 'Performance of the Night' and 'Knockout/Submission of the Night' came about, explained White.
During the lecture, he said:
"You know what happens when you get 37 million dollars if you're a fighter, [you say] 'I don't want to get punched in the face, I got 37 million dollars man'... We incentivize guys to fight. You're going to get money to show, and you get money to win, and then you get money for the best fight of the night, you get money for the best knockout, money for the best submission. You're incentivized no different than any other business in the world. Show up at your job and have a half-*ssed day see how that goes."
Dana White’s philosophy around UFC fighter pay hasn’t changed in a decade. This clip is from his 2013 lecture at Stanford University. Have at it. https://t.co/IuYQatHs9n
Jake Paul and Dana White have been at loggerheads regarding the UFC's fighter pay structure
Jake Paul has been a longtime critic of the incentive-based structure of fighter pay in the UFC. He has often jibed at Dana White for allegedly underpaying fighters and continues to demand a better pay-structure for athletes signed to the promotion.
Francis Ngannou recently said he's not willing to compete for the pay he's receiving under his current contract with the promotion. Paul was quick to jump in and ask White to "give this man what he wants." He also teased a big announcement concerning the same down the line.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer tweeted:
"Give this man what he wants Dana. such a f**ked up company to be apart of… I got something coming soon…"
give this man what he wants Dana. such a fucked up company to be apart of… I got something coming soon… twitter.com/MMAFighting/st…
Following the latest surge in the price of UFC pay-per-views, Paul once again took to Twitter to attack White. He tweeted:
“Best year we ever had,” White. “Sponsorship is through the roof. Social media, our numbers on pay-per-view, our numbers on television, arena records. This business is on fire.” Also Dana White: We are again raising pay-per-view prices and saying FU to fans and fighters."
“Best year we ever had,” White. “Sponsorship is through the roof. Social media, our numbers on PPV, our numbers on television, arena records. This business is on fire.”
Also Dana White: We are again raising PPV prices and saying FU to fans and fighters
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