Darren Till has defended Dana White by pointing out "friends look after friends" after his $250,000 gift.
White came into the spotlight once again after a video emerged of White leaving YouTube comedian and friend Kyle Forgeard stunned after gifting him $250,000 cash for his birthday. Forgeard is part of prankster crew Felk who hold a mammoth subscriber base, and was left speechless when handed the cash - which was a sum more sizeable than flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo's last UFC purse.
Fans and fighters in the sport were left anguished by the move at the plush meal and once again brought the issue of fighter pay under scrutiny. However Liverpudlian star Till had his say on the generous gesture, tweeting: “I don’t know if it’s just me but seeing Dana (White) give his mate (Kyle Forgeard) a bag of readies (sic) for his birthday isn’t really a problem or any of our business is it? Them Nelk guys he gave the money to always spend their money on Dana so he’s making sure they are okay as well. Friends look after friends.”
The likes of Paddy Pimblett have also received lower purses, having been on a controversial £9,000 guaranteed contract for his recent UFC London victory over Kazula Vargas. However this has since been altered with Pimblett moving on to a bigger deal as accustomed for fighters starting out on their careers in the UFC.
YouTube star Jake Paul has spearheaded the recent campaign of behalf of UFC fighters demanding action from White, making multiple fight offers to increase the guaranteed pay. He is one high-profile figure who opted to criticise White after the gift went viral.
"It sucks and it's embarrassing," Paul told WFAN Sports Radio's Carton and Roberts show of the video. "It just shows how much of a s***bag Dana White is. How could you do that to your fighters? You're giving out birthday gifts to someone but your own flyweight champion you can't pay him enough? And there's no healthcare for his fighters?
What did you make of Dana White's gesture to his YouTube friend? Let us know in the comments section below
"People are really starting to see how greedy this guy is, people are really starting to see that these fighters are underpaid. There's got to be some change made here. The more we talk about it, the more we raise awareness and the more we fight back, the more pressure they're going to be under to pay their fighters more.
"But it sucks, man. I feel bad for the flyweight champion...and Dana White, if you're listening to this, bro, you really need to re-evaluate yourself and take a hard look in the mirror."
The Felk prankster group are often seen cageside at UFC pay-per-views and are known to provide funding an exposure to the UFC. The promotion have come under fire to increase their minimum $12,000 purse with the fighters earning a revenue split of around 18 per cent.
