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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
“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.”
When asked about criticisms amid the Benn deal, White has said “it’s a good thing” when people make more money and pointed to fighter pay continuously rising since 2001.
White referenced the UFC’s new £5.7bn broadcast deal with Paramount, before adding: “I promise you fighter pay is going to be just fine over the next seven years.”
Advertisement
While Wood said he is happy with his pay from the UFC because there’s “no other promotion that’s going to pay me more”, he added that it doesn’t compare to what top athletes in other sports get – a statement supported by Michael ‘Venom’ Page.
Page beat fellow Briton Sam Patterson at UFC London in an uninspiring contest and made his walkout to Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Care About Us.
“I’ve been a sports fan my whole life, I’ve been in cricket, skiing, basketball, football, American football – but MMA is one of the most difficult sports you’ll ever do,” said Page.
“You’re also putting your life on the line every single time. I’m not discrediting any other sport, but nobody is trying to kill you.
Advertisement
“And at the top of the game we’re getting paid, if you compare to other sports, nowhere near what we should be getting paid.”
Page continued: “For me it’s just a case of everyone should be getting paid more for the efforts and the danger we put ourselves in, and the attention we get from it.
“We’ve been talking about how this is the fastest growing sport for so long but yet nothing else is growing.”
Earlier this month, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall signed a “commercial and advisory” deal with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, to maximise his earnings outside the UFC.
Advertisement
Fighters can’t compete in other major promotions while in contract with the UFC, and while Aspinall says he has “accepted” the contract he has with the organisation and the restrictions that come with it, the Briton added he wanted to “explore other options”.
Welsh lightweight Jones said he would not partner with Eddie Hearn himself, but added fighters must be prepared to take opportunities like Aspinall to supplement their income from fight pay.
“In the modern era of the UFC you have to do more yourself to get yourself noticed. They are a wheel that turns every day and if it’s not you, it’ll be someone else,” said Jones.
“You have to do what you can to get noticed and generate your own wealth and legacy.”
Advertisement
