UFC London: Fighter pay debate laid bare as Conor Benn deal described as ‘heartbreaking’
Some of the most impressive performances at UFC London came on the undercard.
Nathaniel Wood overcame the odds yet again to beat Losene Keita, while Mason Jones overwhelmed Axel Sola in a bruising back and forth fight of the year encounter.
Jones and Sola were covered in blood and breathing heavily by the end of their contest, with both fighters swinging until the final bell, using every last drop of energy.
Jones’ performance was the type that can have a lasting effect on a fighter’s career but he and Wood roused the fans on a night when the atmosphere was sometimes flat at the O2 Arena.
Fighters on the prelims like Wood and Jones don’t get as much media attention or promotion from the UFC – and strikingly less money than their headlining peers.
But in a sport that demands so much from the flesh and mind, there are arguments the athletes should be better looked after amid a changing landscape in combat sports.
Fighter pay has been questioned by athletes and the media recently after boxer Conor Benn secured a reported £11m one-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing.
Zuffa Boxing is owned by UFC president Dana White, so critics have asked why the 56-year-old isn’t paying similar amounts to his MMA fighters under contract.
The UFC gives about 20% of revenue to fighter pay, compared with boxers who get about 60% of revenue from their events.
London’s Wood, who has won 11 of 14 fights in the UFC, says he hopes the Benn deal will spark a change because he was “heartbroken” when he saw how much he would be earning.
“When you think I’ve been in the UFC for eight years, but I’m not on that, I”m not even on 1% of that,” Wood told BBC Sport before UFC London.
“Especially when I believe MMA is the tougher sport as well, but again I just try and control what’s in my hands and it’s got nothing to do with me.
“It was definitely heartbreaking to see someone is getting paid that much.”