Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt didn’t hold back when discussing competitor compensation during his recent appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast. The Ohio native offered candid insights into the financial realities facing UFC competitor at all levels of the sport.
Garbrandt emphasized that despite the UFC’s massive growth and lucrative broadcast deals, pay structures remain problematic. “I mean, like the sport is growing as far as technical fighters, tougher fighters, younger fighters. but also the organization is growing. You guys think that we just got signed with CBS and Paramount Plus? That’s massive,” Garbrandt explained.
He continued: “Now they have this TV deal for billions of dollars, you know. For me, it’s like what percentage is the fighters going to get, you know.”
The former champion proposed a structured pay system based on achievement and ranking. “I was speaking earlier to coach about it and we’re on the same thing. Like there should be a criteria if you’re a former champion or you make the top 15, you make the top 10, there’s a pay grade, right, that you don’t go below no matter what. This is it. You served this company. You became a champion for us. Lost years of your life in there for us. Here’s the pay that you’ll never go above.”
Garbrandt detailed his own early UFC compensation, revealing the harsh financial realities many fighters face. “When I signed to the UFC, it was 8 and 8, you know, like my first fight was 8 and 8. And then you take what 20, 25, 30% of that from 16,000, you know. Like I think I walked home with like $3,000,” he recalled.
This amount had to cover an eight-month layoff period before his next fight, along with expenses for coaches, management, rent, and food while living in California.
The financial burden extends beyond base pay, as Garbrandt explained the multiple coaches MMA fighters must employ. “Think about this as an MMA fighter, you have more than one coach. You have a boxing coach most likely, Muay Thai, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, then probably strength and conditioning. So you can have anywhere from four to five people you got to pay. Boxers, they only have one coach.”
Garbrandt revealed he personally paid each of his coaches five percent of his purse, totaling thirty to forty percent of his earnings. “I was paying a lot of my coaches because I value their time and what they gave to me and what they were sacrificing, too. So I gave a lot of my coaches 5% of my purse. All of them,” he stated.
Particularly troubling to Garbrandt is how the pay scale works for former champions who fall on hard times. “There should never be a D scale. Like, hey, you’re a world champion, but like, all right. Hey, you’re fighting for X amount of dollars now. You got pay-per-view points. You’re getting this money, but here, you lose that fight, you’re going to go to 70 and 70 after making millions. It’s like, damn.”
Despite the UFC’s recent CBS deal worth billions, Garbrandt noted that existing contracts don’t automatically benefit from increased revenue. “I mean, they’re saying it has, but I mean, I’m locked into a contract. So, it’s like, hey, I got more money and I’m paying you as a worker, but I’m like, hey, you’re in a contract. I’m not going to just pay you more money, you know?”
When asked how many fights he would take at twenty million dollars per fight, Garbrandt’s answer was telling. “Four. Four and done. Yeah. Cuz I’m not going to be hold on, you know, like what what what else do I need if I’m getting that much money, you know, to where I’m setting up myself, my family, my kids, you know, like that’s what it’s about.”
He concluded with a powerful reflection on his sacrifice: “I left a lot of myself in that octagon, you know, for what? To just keep fighting, fight the fight. No, man. Like I want to leave something for my son to be able to build off of and have and not have to, you know, struggle in ways that I struggled.”
Garbrandt’s comments once again highlight a long-standing tension at the core of the UFC: a multibillion-dollar business built on the sacrifices of athletes who often struggle to secure long-term financial security.
