Ex-UFC champion sparks heated debate with boxer Terence Crawford over fighter pay

Despite boxing and MMA being the two dominant players in the combat sports landscape, the compensation discrepancy remains imbalanced.

During a recent edition of the Pound 4 Pound podcast with former UFC Champions Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman, the pair got into an interesting discussion with multiple-time boxing Champion Terence Crawford over the pros and cons.

Usman is mostly comfortable with the UFC's structure, while Crawford suggested some key improvements to make it similar to boxing.

Kamaru Usman (red gloves) leaves the arena after being defeated by Leon Edwards (blue gloves) during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena. | Jeffrey Swinger-Imagn Images

Usman Compares Fighter Pay In The UFC & Boxing

“For us, we get a lot of flak that, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t getting paid enough,’ but a lot of people don’t understand how simplified it is for us,” Usman said. "You want to fight, this date, this is the paycheck, yes or no? For you guys (boxing), you have to be responsible for taking care of your manager. Now the promoter and manager have to work something out, and the promoter then has to go to the network to try and get you that money."

Usman continued, explicitly sharing how challenging it is.

“There’s so many different people that the money has to touch their hands before it even gets to your hand. If it’s $100 million that’s being passed down the pipeline, by the time it gets to your hands, you might be touching $10-15 million out of 100. And that’s a hard pill to swallow to where we get a lot of flak for that, but there’s a lot of different situations in boxing to where you don’t get that.”

Crawford Counters Usman

Crawford took a far different stance, however.

"For instance, UFC, a guy headlining at The Sphere, they’re probably getting a couple of million dollars. But you’ll see a guy on the undercard of a big show probably making more than that guy…You show up, you get $50,000. You win, you get another $50,000. You get the Knockout of the Year; you get another $50,000.”

Terence Crawford looks on after winning his fight against Amir Khan during the WBO welterweight title fight at Madison Square Garden. | Sarah Stier-Imagn Images

After a few counter statements, both men agreed there is no concrete way to solve the issue.

"So once you make it to the UFC, you’re in the big leagues now," Crawford said. "When I make it to the big leagues, when I’m on TV, I’m making more than you making when you come into the UFC. So, you’ve got to compare apples to apples. You can’t say this guy’s first fight in the UFC. Well, what did he do before the UFC?”

Nevertheless, it's an ongoing discussion still worth having.

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