Jake Paul has claimed UFC fighters are signed to "slave contracts" as he continues his push to increase pay for the roster.
The YouTube star has made a quicktime rise to prominence in the world of combat sports, which has been down to his undefeated start to life in the ring. He has defeated the likes of UFC legend Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley, having been keen to give them a payday to support his views on UFC fighter pay.
Paul has been extremely vocal about UFC fighter pay and healthcare, launching a tirade against promotion president Dana White, while also planning to launch a fighters union with former opponent Silva. And in his latest jab at the UFC, Paul has suggested he would fight in the organisation as long as his proposed changes are made.
"The heavyweight champion of the world in boxing Tyson Fury got like $32 million for his last fight," Paul began in his latest lengthy rant on UFC fighter pay during an interview with Anthony Pompliano. "So the fact that they don't have long-term healthcare in the most dangerous sport in the world. These fighters are risking their lives and some of them can barely afford their gym bills. To me that is where I want to see change.
"That is why I am working on the United Fighters association with Anderson because I know how hard they work and how much they are sacrificing. It just sucks to see them getting taken advantage of and they are the most profitable sporting organisation in the world because they don't pay their fighters.
"Their fighters are basically in slave contracts. The crazy part about it is that UFC fighter pay for all of their own s***, and so they are getting paid like s*** and they have to pay for all these things. It is just this really backwards thing, if it meant they raised their fighter minimum pay and increased their revenue then I would fight in the UFC."
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Paul has looked to enrol several people on to his fighter pay pursuit along the way including Silva, and has launched several attacks to UFC president White online. This has included a 'diss track' and a series of jibes on social media, which has even forced the promotion to respond on multiple occasions.
However Paul's former opponent Ben Askren has suggested that he doesn't believe his rival's fighter pay campaign is genuine. “Jake’s a little disingenuous on it," Askren told MMA News. "He’s not going in-depth enough. He just keeps being like 'the fighters aren’t paid enough, the fighters aren’t paid enough’ and there’s so much more to it.
“I think there are a lot of things the UFC could do a little bit better, but I think they’re generally doing a pretty good job. I don’t know, I guess I would love to hear Dana kind of talk, and he never will, but talk at length about the business aspects of paying fighters more."
