UFC fighter Paige VanZant has won eight of her 12 MMA bouts and she criticized the pay fighters earn in the Octagon saying she wants the UFC to give her a raise.
The 25-year-old said that she earns more money from posting photos to her Instagram page than fighting.
Paige has more than 2 million followers on Instagram and apart from sharing personal pictures of herself, she earns a good amount for uploading a number of sponsored posts.
Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, VanZant said: “The hard thing for me to put in perspective is with endorsements I make way more money sitting at home, posting pictures on Instagram than I do fighting.”
“With endorsement deals and everything I pull in from social media, I would actually be a loss just taking a fight and focusing on that. If I were to stop everything I do outside of fighting and take a fight, I would be at a loss financially.”
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“When I did my contract negotiation the last time, the talk was, ‘I can’t pay you more than a female champion.”
“Okay, but why are comparing me to just women? All of us should be getting paid more in general.”
“I want a significant pay raise, to be completely honest.”
“I’ve just been extremely accomplished outside of the UFC, as well as inside of the UFC.”
“Five wins in the UFC, four finishes, I’ve been the main event twice, and I think someone with those accolades should be paid more.”
“I for sure am going to fight this year,”
“Once I start sparring I want to sign a fight contract and be like six weeks out. I only have one left on my deal.”
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