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Opinion: CM Punk’s Salary Magnifies Fighter Pay Issue
- Updated: September 14, 2016
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.* * * Well, that went about how we all expected it to go.Phil Brooks, aka “CM Punk,” finally made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut almost two years after the start of his formal mixed martial arts training. The end result at UFC 203 on Saturday in Cleveland was a one-sided demolition at the hands of Mickey Gall. Most of the MMA community had a laugh at the former pro wrestler’s expense. Then we learned how much he was paid for spending just over two minutes getting beaten down: $500,000. Not so funny now, is it? There are a few ways that you can look at this, and none of them are favorable to the fighters in the UFC. On one hand, Punk’s debut drew a ton of attention and likely sold a significant amount of pay-per-views. If that’s taken into consideration, a $500,000 payday sounds appropriate. However, if we assume that UFC 203 sold somewhere around 800,000 PPVs and the UFC can pay a fighter with zero MMA experience half a million dollars, doesn’t that mean the rest of the fighters on the card should be raking in more money? Obviously, nobody paid to see Gall fight. However, there will be a bit more interest in his next fight. Either way, Gall making a disclosed $30,000, his win bonus included, seems like a bit of an insult to the other half of one of the more intriguing fights on the card. To suggest that Gall only deserved 17 percent of what Punk made is ridiculous. More importantly, the idea that Punk made only $100,000 less than UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic sounds absolutely ridiculous and is the reason why more and more fighters are asking for “money” fights. This isn’t Punk’s fault. He was presented an opportunity to live out his dream on a …
