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Former UFC star Diego Sanchez does not believe Dana White's claims that a fighter who fought at the UFC 268 preliminary card earned $750,000.
Sanchez, who was cut from the UFC roster earlier this year, commented on an Instagram post pertaining to White's claims. 'The Nightmare' is convinced that the UFC president is lying about such a generous payout.
This comes after White's appearance on an episode of the Pardon My Take podcast. The UFC boss was asked about the criticism regarding fighter pay in the UFC when compared to boxing. In response, White said:
"You know this kid [Badou] Jack, former world champion. He's Fighting this weekend in the middle east, and he's making $75k, okay?. A guy who's on the prelims, never been a world champion, and I won't mention his name, is making $750,000."
Watch Dana White talk about it below:
White did not reveal the identity of the said fighter, but Ariel Helwani believes he's referring to Michael Chandler. The catch, however, is that Chandler isn't on the preliminary card. He took part in the main card opener against Justin Gaethje and took home a piece of the Fight of the Night bonus.
Over the past several years, Dana White has been constantly criticized for underpaying UFC fighters. But White has defended the existing business model of the UFC, saying his promotion pays more to the fighters than any other MMA promotion.
Dana White's theory on why UFC fighters don't tell people how much they really make
During the same appearance, Dana White speculated that fighters don't disclose how much they make to avoid people who come to them for money. The UFC president theorized:
"Now, the fighters can tell people what they make. You notice they don't? None of them came out and say 'I don't make any money. I only made this much money for this fight. Nobody comes out, they don't want anybody knowing what they make for the fight... It's not a ploy to get more money. When your numbers come out publically, it's a sh*tshow. Everybody's hitting you up for money. Now all these guys think they don't get paid, they don't get any money so nobody's going to be trying to borrow any money off you."
Watch the full episode of Pardon My Take featuring Dana White below:
