Dana White celebrated inking a $1.1 billion-per-year UFC TV rights deal in August.
Since then, the UFC CEO has faced questions about how his $7.7 billion contract with Paramount and CBS will benefit the fighters.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is one of the many vocal critics of UFC fighter pay and conditions.
In a new interview with 60 MINUTES, Dana White assured everyone on his roster will get a good percentage of the new money coming into MMA’s premier promotion.
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Dana White defends UFC fighter pay
The UFC will essentially double its money through its new US TV rights deal over the next seven years.
White refused to say if that means fighter pay would double, but he insisted that it will be going up in the near future.
“I can’t sit here right now and tell ya, you know, it’s double, it’s one and a half, it’s triple,” he said.
“But, yeah, fighter pay is gonna be good.”
The UFC boss was then asked if he pays his fighters a fair wage.
“Absolutely,” White replied. “People don’t know how much a lot of these guys make.
“We’re different in a lot of ways. We’re different than most major sports.”
How much money do UFC fighters make?
Conor McGregor shows that you can become a very wealthy person by fighting for the UFC.
The former dual-weight UFC champion, who topped the Forbes list of rich athletes in 2021, is believed to have a net worth of $200 million.
Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Khabib Nurmagomedov are just some of the other fighters who have made tens of millions from fighting in the UFC.
In 2025, some UFC champions, ticket sellers, and pay-per-view stars make seven-figure purses every time they fight.
However, the lowest-paid fighters on a UFC card tend to have a base pay of just $12,000. They can double their money by winning, but that’s not always possible when competing with the very best fighters in MMA’s most talent-stacked league.
It remains to be seen how Dana White will divide the new money coming into the UFC from next year.