“We’re not on the same page here” - Chael Sonnen and Ariel Helwani clash over UFC fighter pay on The MMA Hour
Chael Sonnen and Ariel Helwani agree on a number of issues but it doesn't appear as though fighter pay is one of them.
During today's episode of The MMA Hour, Sonnen and Helwani debated on the status of fighter pay in the UFC. The former UFC title challenger brought up what fighters were earning when he debuted compared to now as a way of supporting his argument that there's no problem with the amount fighters are currently earning.
He said:
"When I debuted, [UFC] was paying two-thosand and 2,000 and 2,000, and now they pay 12,000 and 12, 000, that is a six times in 18 years...You start paying a guy $5 [million] and $10 million, you're not gonna see the guy anymore...Not for nothing, to act as though it hasn't gone up at a crazy rate, higher than every other business that you can name, it's not true."
Helwani, clearly disagreed with 'The American Gangster' and continued to press the issue. He claimed that the pandemic isn't an excuse because the promotion had sponsors all over the octagon and finally came to the conclusion that they wouldn't find common ground, saying:
"They [UFC] had pay-per-view revenue, they had other TV deals. They did have sponsors, the whole cage is littered with sponsors, I see it. There's more sponsors on that than a NASCAR truck, what are you talking about?...I don't wanna get into all this because I feel like we're not on the same page here. No sports league shut down."
It will be interesting to see whether the UFC improve their payment model, especially after the PFL signed Francis Ngannou to a lucrative deal.
Chael and Ariel talk fighter pay.
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Chael Sonnen weighs in on Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg
Chael Sonnen weighed in on the potential for Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg in the UFC.
During the appearance mentioned above, 'The American Gangster' shared his thoughts on whether the billionaires clashing in the octagon will be positive or negative for the UFC. He mentioned that he finds the bout intriguing and believes that it's something fun, saying:
"I'm interested from a standpoint from being silly. We get to have fun in the UFC about every 10 years...About every 10 years, we'll get a CM Punk, we could have fun...We're at that x amount of time has gone by and we're about to have some fun." [9:36 - 10:10]