Dana White’s UFC recently launched a seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount. This brings the company $1.1 billion annually and completely removes the traditional $79.99 pay-per-view cost for fans in favor of standard streaming.
This is a 1,000% jump from the $100 million yearly contract the UFC signed with FOX back in 2012. Financially, the promotion has never been more valuable.
Still, fighter pay remains a massive issue inside the promotion, and Forbes’ 2026 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes just opened everyone’s eyes to the problem. To recap, the list featured boxer Canelo Alvarez at No. 2 with $170 million in earnings and Jake Paul at No. 23 with $70 million, but not a single MMA fighter made the top 50.
While boxers take home huge individual payouts, the UFC only pays its fighters roughly 13% to 18% of its total revenue. Against that backdrop, the White recently promised a continuous pay rise, but he attached a condition that puts every fighter on notice.
Dana White Defends UFC Pay Model, Vows Increases Tied Directly to Business Performance
Long before the Paramount deal, fighters inside the promotion frequently criticized the promotion’s pay structure. Former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou walked away from the company entirely because his contract offers lacked revenue sharing and health insurance.
When the Paramount deal came to light, fighters expected a major change. Instead, stars like Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor noted that they now needed to completely restructure their contracts. Gaethje pointed out that champions who relied on PPV sales bonuses are losing their biggest source of income due to the disappearance of the pay-per-view model.
After the WNBA overhauled its pay structure through a newly announced collective bargaining agreement before its season start, everyone pointed their fingers at White. The criticism eventually intensified because the world’s biggest MMA promotion has made no significant updates to its pay model — or at least, nothing the public has noticed.
Speaking with writer Jack Crosbie on Rolling Stone, the UFC Boss reframed the entire argument.
“When people talk about that, do you know what they don’t compare it to? What a guy makes when he fights his first boxing event,” White said.
“Some of these guys make $100 for one round in boxing. If you look at the deal we just cut with Paramount, imagine how it’s going to look in the next seven years. Fighter pay has continuously gone up every year and it will continue to go up as long as we continue to be successful. But to compare it to the WNBA is ridiculous.”
White also defended the UFC’s handling of unproven talent, saying, “Let’s say you sign a three-fight deal, we’re gonna find out if you even belong in the UFC — so I should pay you $370,000 to see if you belong in the UFC?”
At this moment, the UFC’s entry-level minimum remains a $10,000-to-show and $10,000-to-win structure. Newcomers signing a standard three-fight contract still enter the Octagon with this exact baseline.
Instead of raising the floor, White funneled the new Paramount money into conditional, performance-based incentives. Standard “Performance of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” bonuses jumped from $50,000 to $100,000 per event. The promotion also introduced a flat $25,000 bonus for any fighter who wins by knockout or submission to encourage more aggressive finishes.
Still, these paychecks do not compare to boxing revenue. For example, kickboxer Rico Verhoeven’s single $15 million purse for his crossover boxing debut was roughly double the combined payouts of the entire UFC 328 card. And then Forbes number just exposed the brutal reality.
So, a serious revamp is very much required. White claims he will make pay increases happen once the UFC becomes more successful, but he didn’t explain what “more successful” actually means to him. Ultimately, his vague condition puts everyone in limbo.
