UFC head Dana White shared how other fighters reacted after learning about Punk’s salary in a released deposition.
When Punk decided to leave WWE and give UFC a try, some fans thought it was praiseworthy for him to give mixed martial arts a shot, but others didn’t like that his pro wrestling celebrity automatically created an opportunity for him in the company.
But even more than that, some of the fighters were outraged to discover what he was getting paid.
‘People went crazy when they saw what he got paid’
SEScoops reports, “The company is currently involved in an antitrust lawsuit, which has led to a deposition from UFC President Dana White to the public. It was also revealed that Punk got paid over $1 million for his debut fight against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 on September 10, 2016. When it was revealed how much Punk was getting paid, it created a backlash from other UFC fighters.”
“MMA Fighting’s Steven Marrocco was able to look at the document with White’s comments on the issue,” SEScoops noted. “The UFC President shared that fighters in the company speak among their peers about what they are making. This leads to fighters being upset with how pay is being distributed.”
The story continued:
One of the examples he brought up was that UFC fighters were unhappy that Punk received over $1 million for his first professional fight.
Marrocco transcribed the following quote.
“…We had some guy that was — that was paid a certain amount of money and never — oh, the professional wrestler that we brought in. Not Brock [Lesnar], the other one,” said White.
When the attorney handling the case replied with Punk’s name, the UFC President confirmed he was referring to him.
White added, “People went crazy when they saw what he got paid. … Even the women.”
Make Money for UFC, Get Paid for Doing So
SEScoops added, “Punk’s base salary for the time he was competing in the UFC was $500 thousand. It made him among the most-paid fighters on the UFC roster at the time.”
Now, on one hand you can understand why MMA fighters who had been in the sport and trained for years were mad that a relative novice was getting such a big payday.
On the other hand, UFC made a lot more money on PPVs that CM Punk was featured on than others where he was not.
Isn’t it only fair to reward the person who made the company more money by paying him adequately?
For the record, CM Punk never won a fight in UFC.
But his bank account certainly won.
