Jake Paul insisted "change is coming" after UFC owner Ari Emanuel was forced to dismiss his concerns over fighter pay in the promotion.
The former Hollywood agent is CEO of entertainment agency Endeavor, which owns the promotion headed up by Dana White. And during yesterday's investor phone conference, the first since Paul invested a "six-figure sum" in the company, he was forced to defend their payment of fighters, which compares poorly to other major sporting leagues.
For their part, the UFC are said to have recorded unprecedented numbers last year after the return of fans to their events following the coronavirus pandemic. This is according to a statement from the company, who released fourth-quarter and final year earnings results for 2021 yesterday ahead of the call with investors.
And when Paul was brought up by Brandon Ross from Lightshed Partners in a question regarding fighter pay concerns raised by the YouTuber-turned-boxer and his ilk, the question was batted down quickly. “I’m not commenting on that,” Emanuel quickly replied. “I think we’ve done very well as it relates to the pay for the fighters.”
Chief Financial Officer Jason Lublin expanded on the fighter pay issue, adding: “We’ve increased fighter pay 600 per cent since 2005 - we’re investing in the business with performance institutes, food, recovery. We think we’ve done very, very well. As the revenue for the business increases, it has only benefited that business, and we’ve grown and the sport has grown and fighter pay has grown too - as I said, look how much it’s gone up since 2005.”
As a minor investor with next to no control over Endeavor's operations, Paul was allowed access to the call but didn't ask any questions. But that didn't stop him sharing a video with his millions of followers, and telling MMA fighters that he was pushing for their best interests in the caption.
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He tweeted: "While some of y’all busy hating on me, I’m busy trying to better understand how UFC makes more money and margins than any other sports league in the world, to help y’all make the money you deserve."
He also said in an earlier post: "Ari Emanuel asked about fighter comp and benefits driven by the attention JAKE PAUL is bringing to it by LightShed. Ari refused to comment on the concern around percentage paid to UFC fighters versus other athletes in other leagues. Change is coming y’all."
The undefeated boxer is currently eyeing up a return to the ring for this summer, although no opponent has been named as yet for his first fight since last December's stunning knockout of ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley. He will first focus his attention on promoting Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano's fight at Madison Square Garden next month before announcing a next move after heading back to his Puerto Rican training base this week.
