Kamaru Usman, Terence Crawford debate MMA vs. boxing pay: 'It's no comparison'
Two of the biggest stars in boxing and the UFC compared fighter pay in their respective sports.
Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and undefeated super welterweight boxing champion Terence Crawford discussed the pros and cons of fighter pay in MMA vs. boxing.
Usman argued that there’s more clarity in the pay for MMA fighters than boxers.
“For us, we get a lot of flak that, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t getting paid enough,’ but a lot of people don’t understand how simplified it is for us,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Cejudo. “You want to fight, this date, this is the paycheck, yes or no? For you guys (boxing), you have to be responsible for taking care of your manager. Now the promoter and manager have to work something out, and the promoter then has to go to the network to try and get you that money.
“There’s so many different people that the money has to touch their hands before it even gets to your hand. If it’s $100 million that’s being passed down the pipeline, by the time it gets to your hands, you might be touching $10-15 million out of 100. And that’s a hard pill to swallow to where we get a lot of flak for that, but there’s a lot of different situations in boxing to where you don’t get that.”
Crawford disagreed with Usman.
“Boxers get paid more than MMA as a whole,” Crawford said. “It’s no comparison.”
“At the top,” Usman responded.
“No, as a whole,” Crawford countered. “For instance, UFC, a guy headlining at The Sphere, they’re probably getting a couple of million dollars. But you’ll see a guy on the undercard of a big show probably making more than that guy. …You show up, you get $50,000. You win, you get another $50,000. You get the Knockout of the Year, you get another $50,000.”
Usman explained how while the big stars in boxing make more than the big stars in the UFC, the lower-level fighters make more in the UFC.
“For entry level UFC fighters, first fight in the UFC, you might make 10 and 10 (thousand),” Usman said. “You go out there and win, it’s $20,000. To where there are boxers that are maybe 7,8,10-0 still making – they tell them, ‘You want to fight this fight?’ Alright $2,500. That’s all I mean.”
Crawford made the point that Usman is talking about the UFC, which is the biggest promotion in MMA.
“OK, so let me break it down for you,” Crawford said. “The UFC, that’s like the top of the top. You got to work your way up to the UFC. There are boxers coming out of the Olympics getting a sign-in bonus that’s – So those little fights, are the fights you’re fighting that aren’t in the UFC. You can be pro and not be in the UFC.
“So we’re talking about the big stage. So once you make it to the UFC, you’re in the big leagues now. When I make it to the big leagues, when I’m on TV, I’m making more than you making when you come into the UFC. So, you’ve got to compare apples to apples. You can’t say this guy’s first fight in the UFC. Well, what did he do before the UFC?”