A lot of fighters think that they deserve to be paid better, while most media and fans tend to agree with that, Dana White takes umbrage to such points. Dana White, correctly, ranted the other day about how we live in a society where everyone gets a trophy for participation and how that system is inherently wrong. I don’t agree with Dana White on much, but on that point I believe him to be spot on.
He then talks about how fighters who “Tim Sylvia” against the cage don’t deserve more money, while fighters that people tune in to watch do deserve more money. Just read part of it.
“That might sound f— mean and harsh and [mocking tone of voice] ‘why should somebody not matter, everybody matters.’ We’re getting to where we are in a society now where, everyone wins a trophy. No, everyone doesn’t win a f— trophy. The guys who stand out and the guys who make it exciting, the guys who raise to the top are the guys who deserve the money.”
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“The UFC, every time we do a fight, whether its on pay-per-view or on TV or whatever, people make the decision to stay home on a Saturday night and not do anything else when there’s movies, dinners, spending time with families, “White said. “There’s a lot of s– to do on a Saturday night. These people make a decision to stay home on a Saturday night and watch our show.
“We get a show with a bunch of guys who want to push against the f— fence and stand there for 15 f— minutes and try to squeak out a win? How many people do you think are gonna tune in next Saturday? And if this keeps continuing, this becomes f— boxing, where guys keep running around in circles and nobody fights and you walk away going ‘this fight sucked.'”
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“Be the guy who stands out,” White said. “You’re the guy people want to see again. You’re the guy people want to spend money for. You’re the guy people by tickets, PPV, people stay home on Saturday night. John Cholish is not that f— guy and never will be. So now John Cholish says ‘We don’t get paid enough money.’ No, you didn’t get paid enough. You know why you didn’t get paid enough? Cause you didn’t f— deserve it.”