Eddie Hearn has defended Paddy Pimblett 's £9,000 purse for his submission win at UFC London last weekend.
Pimblett was one of the main attractions on the promotion's return to the English capital, with the Liverpudlian winning his fight against Kazula Vargas by first-round submission. Pimblett later revealed he is on the UFC's most package salary of £9,000 to show and £9,000 to win, a revelation which sparked anger.
'The Baddy' is hoping to renegotiate his contract with the UFC after his next fight as despite receiving just £36,000 for his two UFC wins, Pimblett has received £75,000 in performance bonuses. Hearn defended the UFC's pay structure and thinks fighters have lots of benefits that go unnoticed.
"It's a different kind of structure in the UFC and there are a lot of benefits of being with the UFC. Particularly when you talk about training facilities and you talk about sponsorships as well and stuff like that," Hearn told Boxing King Media.
Despite Hearn's comments about sponsorships, in 2015 the UFC banned fighters from displaying their own sponsors when representing the company. All fighters must wear official Reebok gear during their UFC duties after the promotion signed an exclusive deal with Venum last year.
"I don't know enough about the business," Hearn continued. "What I can tell you is being up close and personal to it, every one of those fighters who won, got out of the octagon, ran around and cuddled Dana White."
"I turned round to Anthony Joshua and Derek Chisora and said 'when have you ever cuddled me' and I'm supposed to pay you a load more money than the UFC. So, the fighters appear to be happy."
What are your thoughts on Paddy Pimblett's UFC pay? Let us know in the comments section below
UFC fighter pay has increased over the years, but fighters have received 16 to 20 per cent of revenue from the promotion for the last decade. In other major sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA, athletes receive around 50 per cent of revenue made by the league.
And Hearn continued: "There has to be a reason that those fighters are happy so and UFC do a great job and they're a great business as well and again, not just saying it because his hospitality was good, Dana White cares about the fighters, he cares about the sport, I can see it."
"I don't have to say that, because I don't gain anything out of it. All I tell you is I was sat next to a very passionate man, he was emotional about fighters, he was invested in the fighters. They're running a business and it's up to the fighters and their representatives to get the best deal they can."
