UFC President Dana White said that the promotion is "contemplating the elimination of fight-night and discretionary bonuses to fighters," according to Marrocco & Morgan of USA TODAY. White said, "You don't like the structure? All right, we'll pay the lower-level guys more money -- no more (expletive) bonuses. You guys come in, you negotiate your contracts, and we do away with all bonuses. That's what I'm thinking about doing." White yesterday said that he and UFC co-Chair & CEO Lorenzo Fertitta "came up with the idea to redistribute wealth after several former and current UFC fighters publicly criticized the way the promotion pays its fighters." If they "follow through with it, they could find out very quickly if those currently under contract believe the current system is as bad as it's often made to be." UFC "could boost fighters' base salaries across the board and take away rewards for those that perform." The promotion for years has "paid out discretionary bonuses ... as well as undisclosed checks that are sometimes distributed backstage or mailed after an event." Disclosed bonuses have "gone as high as $129,000 at UFC 129, but recently leveled out to $50,000." The amount of discretionary bonuses "ranges widely." Several fighters recently cut by UFC said that their disclosed pay "shrinks considerably after deductions for training expenses and taxes." Add to that a "sponsorship market that's sunk since the sport's boom in the late 2000s, and many up-and-comers are forced to look for secondary income." White: "All these (expletive) morons have no idea what goes into this and what it takes to build a sport and a company at the same time. And we've been very fair to guys" (USATODAY.com, 7/1).
