So You Wanna Be an MMA Superstar?

(Props: fightlife.tv)

The dream: Headlining a UFC pay-per-view card, knocking your opponent out in front of a roaring crowd, then making a few laps in your money silo. The reality: Endless struggle, no money, and no health insurance; some fighters are even forced to bang skanks on camera to make ends meet. This MMA s**t? Not easy. Fight Life is a new documentary from actor/filmmaker James Z. Feng, in which various MMA stars describe the long, hard road to success in the world’s most demanding sport. “Maybe someday out there is your day, that’s what you’re fighting for,” says author Sam Sheridan. “And on that day, maybe you can have it all.” Or maybe this happens…

The Reality of Fighter Pay

The gap between the dream and the reality described here became one of the defining issues in MMA over the following decade. Most fighters outside the top tier continued to earn modest show-and-win purses while paying for their own training camps, coaches and medical costs, and pay transparency became a constant source of debate between fighters and promoters.

Those tensions eventually reached the courts. A class-action antitrust lawsuit brought by former UFC fighters over pay and contract practices was settled in 2024 for $375 million, and fighter pay remains one of the most argued-about subjects in the sport.