Heath Herring Attacks UFC Salary Structure

UFC heavyweight fighter, Heath Herring, recently voiced his displeasure about the UFC's salary structure to ESPN 1080 (transcription via Michael David Smith of MMA Fighting): 

"I really don't care too much for them, and I don't think they(UFC ownership) care too much for me."

...

"They've got their guys they want to push, guys they want to market, Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir are the guys they want to push and market. The problem is if you're one of the guys who's not one of their favorites, they want to keep you out of the competition."

Herring said he had some broadcasting opportunities with other MMA promotions, and that the UFC has tried to prevent him from taking part in that.

"I'm trying to make money for myself, feed my family, and these guys are trying to do everything they can to make it impossible for me," Herring said.

According to Herring, training costs and taxes left him with a total paycheck of just $40,000 for his fight with Lesnar.

"With the way the UFC's pay scale and as much as it costs me to get ready for a fight," Herring said, "At the end of the day I made like 40 grand."

That's why Herring says he's now trying to make his living in the film business instead of in the cage.

"If I was getting a little more money and it was worth my while I'd get back into fighting," Herring said. "But right now I'm making more in movies. I've got to look out for number one as far as that goes."

Ultimately, Herring said, he'd like to see the fighters get a bigger slice of the pie.

"These guys are literally making money off our blood, sweat and tears. We don't get any health insurance. If you get hurt training for a fight, you're screwed. It's really kind of crazy," Herring said. "Dana White's got six Ferraris. Hell, I just want one."

Heath Herring last fought against Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 in August of 2008, which pulled in an estimated 625,000 pay-per view buys and a live gate of over $2 million.

With regard to Herring's statement that he only netted $40,000 from his fight at UFC 87, there was no official release of salary figures by the Minnesota Combative Sports Commission. That being said, we do have data as to what Herring earned in disclosed payroll in his two previous fights at UFC 82 and UFC 73.

At UFC 82 Herring defeated Cheick Kongo and received a total disclosed sum of $140,000 (70,000 to show, 70,000 to win). Heath also received $70,000 in disclosed money at UFC 73, a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Thus it is highly likely that Herring was on a similar pay scale at UFC 87.

One also has to consider that this is only disclosed money to the athletic commission. UFC fighters often receive non-disclosed "locker room bonuses" as well as revenue from sponsorship and advertising.

As Heath lost to Lesnar at UFC 87 he most likely earned $70,000 in disclosed salary. By only netting $40,000, due to expenses in training and licensing, Herring would have only made 57% this base salary. But due to the clandestine nature of UFC salaries, and fighter sponsorship money, this figure is only an assumption and should not be considered definitive (plus we are taking Heath at his word). In all likelihood Herring made more than just seventy grand it is likely that his actual earnings were less than fifty-seven percent.

Heath Herring has been out of fighting for seventeen months and has focused on acting during the interim. 

Ironically, Herring told Ariel Helwani in August of 2009 that he had no bad feelings with the UFC, saying that, 

It's not that I'm not really happy with the UFC ... It's just, you know, like I said, I think that last fight just took a lot out of me. Now with acting, and things kind of taking off, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. And not necessarily with the UFC. Just with the training ... you know, some of my trainers and things like that. I think I just needed a little time to step back and maybe do some other things for a little bit.

Herring's statements also highlight the fact that there is little public information regarding revenue distribution within Zuffa.

While Zuffa is a private company, and isn't required by law to disclose financial information, other sports have mechanisms in place for the disclosure of finances between the owners and the athletes. For instance, most sports franchises are private entities but the Collective Bargaining Agreements between the leagues and the athletes ensure that a certain percentage of revenue is dedicated to the players.

• NFL - 59% of league revenue goes to the players*
• NBA - 57% of league revenue goes to the players*
• NHL- 54% of league revenue goes to the players**
• MLB - 52% of league revenue goes to the players***
• UFC - ??%

* - It is widely believed that both the NBA and NFL are heading to a lookout to reduce the percentage of revenue allocated to the players .
**- The NHL's players percentage of revenue may change if the league revenue rises or falls.
***- for the 2008 season

As Zuffa has limited the pool of available sponsors for fighters, while simultaneously licensing fighter's images. e.g., THQ's videogame, toys, etc., some degree of percentage revenue sharing should be expected.

Several top-tier fighters do receive shares of pay-per view buys, yet, according to Dana White, only 18 fighters, or just 8.7% of all UFC fighters, make over a million dollars a year.

Considering that the UFC's estimated pay-per view revenue for 2009 was $357.6 million (approximately 7.955 million pay-per view buys) it isn't hard to see why someone would conclude that there is great inequity between ownership and athlete within the current salary structure.

Note: Total revenue is certainly more, as the above figure doesn't include sponsorship, advertising, live gates, apparel or licensing.