Aljamain Sterling is not taking the comments Michael Chandler made regarding UFC athlete pay lightly.
Michael Chandler admitted that he does not have a problem with the UFC’s pay structure.
“I think people think that we should make a lot more money because the UFC makes a ton of money on their shows. Well the UFC’s been at it since 1993. ”
“Dana White has had 10,000 sleepless nights when most of us fighters were just showing up to practice and going to bed and laying our head on the pillow and getting after it and getting a decent wage for what we do.”
While Chandler’s glossing over many aspects of the sport in order to ingratiate himself to his boss – he neglects to mention his own lucrative contract.
While Chandler would have you believe he’s making the same amount he made in Bellator – he came to the organization as an established athlete – a champion in a rival promotion. Previously White used Chandler to show how the UFC pay isn’t so bad revealing ‘a prelims fighter’ received $750k for a UFC bout.
Chandler went on to claim:
“I always think that there’s people on the lower rungs of society always throwing rocks at the people above them when it takes the same amount of energy to reach up and grab the next rung to pull themselves up.”
Hearing this, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling had to weigh in.
“For Michael Chandler to say that fighters just wake up and go to sleep… we train and go to sleep, that’s kind of like… do you not value what you bring to the table for your bosses. And this not to disrespect Dana…”
“I’m not trying to get into a fighter pay thing but at the same time it’s like… Bro, you can’t say there is no issue with the fighter pay because you’re at the cream of the crop.”
Sterling is a champion – meaning he too receives PPV points – while he’s a champion. But he’s vary of the situation.
“Right now I could say I’m good, I’m at the cream of the crop, I’m at the top. I’m getting paid pretty damn well at this point. It’s still underpaid for what it could be based on the numbers that have shown what the revenue split is between fighters and the bosses.”