Do UFC octagon girls make more money than UFC fighters?

UFC fighter pay has been one of the most contentious issues within the sport for many years.

Rumors emerged last year that UFC ring card girls earn upwards of $1 million per annum, which sent the MMA community into meltdown, as many fighters in the promotion do not earn anywhere near that amount.

Longtime ring card girl for the promotion, Luciana Andrade, recently appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Andrade stated that it would be impossible for fighters to earn less than ring card girls:

"It's not true, we don't make more money than the fighters. Think about it, we have 14 girls across the globe. Some girls work a few times a year because we don't have as many international fights as we do in the U.S. Let's talk about the U.S. girls, we're six in total and we rotate. So you work once, twice a month if you're lucky. Let's use common sense, do you really think that we would be making more money than the fighters and the commentators."

Watch the interview below:

It is hard to determine whether or not Luciana Andrade's assessment is accurate considering that she didn't disclose her pay. Fighters may fight twice or thrice a year, while ring girls, according to Andrade, work once or twice a month.

The promotion's president, Dana White, has claimed that the fighters get paid a fair amount, but some fighters, such as Luke Rockhold, disagree. The increasing number of fighters calling for $50,000 bonuses during post-fight interviews also leads you to think that many of them aren't happy with their pay.

Furthermore, consider that world class fighters such as Alexander Volkanovski would be on a vastly different contract to a recently signed up-and-coming fighter.

Some fighters are reportedly on $5,000/$5,000 contracts, meaning if they show up to the fight they earn $5,000, and if they win they earn the other $5,000. If that fighter fights once a year and wins, they would earn $10,000 before any deductions. Hypothetically, if a ring girl does 24 events in a year (two events per month), they would have to earn $416.67 per event to get to $10,000. Chances are, they'll be earning a lot more than that.

However, attaining accurate figures on fighter purses is challenging. Andrade's lack of disclosure means that you can't know for certain if ring girls are paid more than some fighters.

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The UFC made "record revenues" in 2022 according to report

The UFC officially had their most successful year ever in 2022 in terms of company revenue. According to reports, the promotion made a staggering $1.3 billion last year, which is $224.1 million more than they made in 2021.

The report was released by MMA Fighting on Twitter and stated:

"UFC generated 'record revenues' in 2022 including 'the best sponsorship year ever'."

See the tweet below: