Andrew Yang Says the UFC is Exploiting Its Fighters

Andrew Yang is siding with the UFC's fighters in their fight against the organization's management. The former Democratic presidential candidate is a long-time MMA fan but claimed the UFC is exploiting its fighters, who should be making much more money.

Yang told Yahoo Sports he held his bachelor party at an Ultimate Fighter Finale and has been a supporter of the company for years. But he didn't think the organization's salary structure was fair:

""The best estimates out there are (fighters) getting 15 to 16 percent of the sport's revenues, which would be three to four times lower than the athletes get paid in other major sports. Most of the major sports have athletes getting about 50 percent. It is objectively the case that mixed martial arts fighters are getting exploited to the tune of getting paid much, much less than they're worth and much, much less than they're generating.""

He continued:

""They should be getting three to four times more based on what they're generating and I think it’s impossible to argue with that. I would enjoy (parent company) WME and UFC disclosing everything that fighters are making because you'd find that it’s a very small fraction of what athletes in major sports are getting paid.""

A group of top UFC fighters has either retired or demanded their release due to the company's pay structure. Yang pointed to the lack of a fighters' union as part of the reason the competitors get screwed in the long run. The UFC has systematically crushed any attempts at the creation of a fighters' union.

Momentum is against White and the UFC. The fighters are realizing they aren't getting paint enough and are speaking out. The public appears to be listening.