Dana White Rejects UFC-Boxing Pay Dispute Ahead Of Canelo vs Crawford

Now that he is fully entrenched as a boxing promoter, Dana White feels that he is even further entitled to his opinion that UFC fighters get paid on a similar level to boxers.

While still the CEO of the UFC, White is about to begin his career as a boxing promoter on Saturday. As he prepares to sign Zuffa Boxing's first paychecks, he still believes that, on average, boxers do not make much more than UFC fighters do.

"There's always this talk that there's such a huge pay discrepancy between boxing and MMA, which is total bulls***," White said on 'Inside the Ring.' "We have guys that would be considered journeymen in the UFC that make millions of dollars [in boxing]. The money's just spread out amongst the fighters better.

"And then you have the guys that really matter, like the Conor McGregors, the Ronda Rouseys — even a woman came in and was the highest-paid fighter at the time. You eat what you kill here in the UFC. So I think this thing's gonna create a lot of opportunities for young, up-and-coming guys that would be making a couple grand for a title fight, some obscure title fight."

Dana White: There's always this talk that there's such huge pay discrepancy between boxing and MMA, which is total bullshit. pic.twitter.com/N04x2eFJAn
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) September 10, 2025

White is comparing fighters at the lowest level, but the argument has always been at the pinnacle of the sports.

The biggest stars in boxing — think Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk — routinely rake in multi-million dollar paychecks. UFC champions, on the other hand, are lucky if they cross the one-million-dollar threshold.

McGregor, as White pointed out, is on par with the wealthiest boxers in the world in that department. However, the majority of his fame and income came from his boxing fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017.

Dana White addresses Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fighter pay

Although he would not specifically state the amount Alvarez or Crawford would make for their super fight on Saturday night, he hinted that both men would receive hefty paychecks. In an interview with Amber Dixon of PBS, White said that Alvarez would "probably" make over $100 million for the fight.

What White did confirm is that the event is projected to bring in the third-highest gate of all time, only trailing Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor as the most lubricative boxing events in history.

The main difference between Saturday's event and the two aforementioned blockbuster fight cards will be the broadcast revenue. Unlike the Mayweather-Pacquiao and Mayweather-McGregor events, the Alvarez-Crawford event will be available to stream on Netflix and will not require a pay-per-view purchase.

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