The fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano is a platform for more than the MMA trailblazers returning to the cage Saturday, May 16 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Most Valuable Promotions, co-founded by Jake Paul, is using the event to demonstrate its financial commitment to fighters.
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All 22 fighters are the card will make a minimum of $40,000 apiece, according to Nakisa Bidarian, who is co-founder of MVP and shared details of the fighter compensation during an appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show” podcast.
That amount will represent only a fraction of the payout for Rousey, the former UFC champion, and Carano, former MAA stalwart, with Netflix streaming the 11-card event. The same likely is true about compensation for those in the feature fights: Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry and Francis Ngannou. vs. Philip Lins.
But for many of the remaining 16 fighters on the Rousey-Carano undercard, the $40,000 minimum will be significant.
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“That’s guaranteed, and then every fighter has a performance bonus in addition to that, which there are different levels depending on the fighter,” Bidarian told Uncrowned.
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According to Drake Riggs of Uncrowned, the UFC’s typical introductory fighter salary is $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win.
While promoting the fight, Rousey said the UFC has lost its way because of short-term greed and fails to pay a living wage to many of its fighters. She also has predicted her return fight will create new options for MMA fighters.
During Bidarian’s appearance on Helwani’s podcast, he said MVP would like to continue promoting MMA events if this one succeeds. He also lauded Rousey’s role in the promotion.
“And I’ve been blown away,’’ Bidarian said on Helwani’s podcast. “I think she’s done a tremendous job in bringing attention to the event, in promoting not just this event but the need for change and evolution within the sport.’’
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano bout will pay off for undercard fighters
