I got my hand slapped for talking about fighter pay. That was a big one. I had Dana White yell at me in front of, like, 20 other fighters.
With MTV2, every fighter is exposed to millions of people, and they won't have to take a monster pay cut to do so.
My first contract I was offered by the UFC, or my second contract, it was 1-and-1, 2-and-2, 3-and-3. That's $12,000 for the year. Don't complain to me about fighter pay. It was $12,000 for a year, and it was exclusive.
Look at guys like Demetrious Johnson, who's the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. Why isn't he on the largest pay scale? Why are there people that aren't even champions making more money?
At the end of the day, does the UFC really like its fighters?
I just feel that all the top fighters in the world are making all the money.
The fans pay our wages and I want to give back to the fans. I have been telling them for ages that I want big fights and they haven't believed me. They don't know the politics that go on behind the scenes through no fault of my own.
The UFC makes about 99 percent of the money, and the rest goes to the fighters. That one percent ain't nothing compared to what they make on merchandising, on pay-per-view, and everything else they make around the world.
I'm just asking for a fair shake. You see a lot of these guys, a lot of these other champions making what they're making. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but I feel like I'm one of the more exciting fighters under contract in the UFC.
The UFC has a long history of changing a fighter's compensation for a particular bout... There's always changes that's always being made as far as contracts.
I know why the UFC runs the business the way they do. I know why Conor McGregor makes a base pay of $3 million. But I think I justify my pay with my skill set, and I've always been willing to promote my brand.
I make, like, three or four times more when I don't fight than when I do fight. And, I'm one of the higher-paid guys in the UFC, which is remarkably tragic and pathetic.
I'm so happy to have my first main event in the UFC.
Mayweather Promotions - we are the past, the present, and the future of sports and entertainment, and everybody knows Mayweather's pay is better.
I took so many years off my fighting career arguing with Dana, trying to get a fight with Shogun Rua, not trying to fight this guy, trying to do all this stuff. At the end of the day, it didn't really matter much. I just lost time.
Is there any hungry fighters out there that say they don't get paid enough by the UFC? I tell you what: Cowboy's got the answer. Sign on the line. I don't care where you're at on the roster. Let's go.
