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Michael Chandler is one of the biggest fighters to be poached from Bellator by the UFC, and many have speculated on how much more he's making now that he's in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
According to Michael Chandler, his fight purses haven't improved significantly but his ability to make money outside of the organization has. In an interview with Jeremy Piven on the How U Livin J Piven show, Chandler said:
“You know what it is? I make more money, I don’t necessarily make more money on paper or in my fights."
"I may have been a guy who they said ‘Well, he’s not that legitimate cuz he fights in Bellator.’ But one thing I always did, was I kept a really good reputation. I kept my nose clean, I stayed out of the negative headlines, I was always in the positive headlines, and then my fights spoke for themselves. I was an entertainer. It all built this long-standing resume for when I did come over to the UFC to be the co-main event on Conor vs. Poirier, almost two million pay-per-view buys. And then I was the main event for a world title fight and then I was on another huge pay-per-view."
"The amount of eyeballs that I’ve been given and afforded by the UFC coincided with this great reputation of being a hard worker, being a man of integrity, being a hard-nosed fighter, being a fighter, a father, a husband. It just meshed perfectly, and I’ve been able to make a lot of money outside the cage and have some great relationships with some great companies and some great people.”
Watch Jeremy Piven and Michael Chandler discuss his UFC pay below:
Sean O'Malley is taking a similar view to fighter pay as Michael Chandler
Michael Chandler isn't the only athlete factoring in all the money you make outside the UFC on account of being a UFC fighter. Sean O'Malley said something similar to ESPN in a recent interview when asked if he was happy with his pay, which was an evolution from his position just two years ago.
O'Malley explained:
"I'm making millions of dollars outside the UFC right now because of the platform the UFC gives me. I'll probably fight two times this year and I'll make millions of dollars outside the UFC because of the UFC, because I'm able to go out and perform and do what I'm really good at, which is fighting. So it's just perspective, it depends how you look at it. I'm taking advantage of the platform by building my social media outside the UFC and that's how it works."
Watch Sean O'Malley talk UFC pay below:
