Everyone matters, or no one matters - MMA media and its role in the Stephen Thompson UFC pay "controversy"
My thoughts on the MMA media and its role when it comes to Stephen Thompson and “show” money for making weight.
Stephen Thompson was set to make his 20th walk to the UFC octagon on the pay-per-view portion of Saturday's UFC 291 fight card. Thompson, a UFC fighter since February 2012, made weight for his scheduled welterweight fight opposite Michel Pereira, checking in at 170.5 pounds. Unfortunately, Pereira came in heavy for the contest, tipping the scales at 174 pounds. As was his right, Thompson opted to walk away from the fight instead of accepting a portion of Pereira's purse and competing at catchweight. In response, the UFC, as is their right, did not, and has not, paid Thompson his "show" money for the event.
In the aftermath of the situation, Thompson published his rationale on social media for not accepting the catchweight fight. One of the main reasons was that he'd been down that road before, and it bit him in the ass.
In 2018, Thompson, then the No. 1 ranked fighter in the official UFC welterweight rankings, accepted 30 percent of Darren Till's purse to face Till, who came in at 174.5 pounds for their UFC Fight Night main event bout. Till won that fight via unanimous decision. Thompson subsequently dropped to No. 3 in the welterweight rankings. Like the Pereira fight, oddsmakers had Thompson favored to beat Till.
At 40 years old and holding the No. 7 spot in the official UFC welterweight rankings, Thompson ultimately figured the risk of facing an overweight, and unranked opponent riding a five-fight winning streak was not worth the reward. The UFC then figured Thompson's decision made him ineligible to collect any portion of the pay his contract entitled him to.
From everything we know about UFC contracts, they give the promotion a lot of leeway. It’s my understanding that it's entirely up to the UFC to decide if it wants to pay a fighter some or all of their "show" money if they make weight and their opponent, by missing weight, causes the fight to be removed from a card.
I'm not going to go on a tangent about UFC contracts and how MMA managers need to work harder to get fair deals for all their fighters when it comes to the UFC, because that's not the point, at least not right now. What is the point is that the UFC has been arbitrary and inconsistent in situations like this.
In early 2021, Jim Miller was booked opposite Bobby Green at UFC 258. Miller made weight for the card, but Green could not compete after he collapsed at the weigh-in. Miller, who is the epitome of the type of athlete the UFC wants all their competitors to emulate, did not get all his contracted "show" money.
"They gave me a percentage," Miller said at the time. "A fraction. You waste a week out in Las Vegas, basically stuck in your hotel room, and it's like I made a couple thousand dollars for it. It sucks."
There have also been examples of fighters reportedly being paid their entire "show" money for scratched fights.
However, more often than not, once a bout gets scratched from a card when one fighter fails to make weight, the fight and the fighter who made weight are forgotten and not reported on. For instance, does anyone remember seeing reports on the pay of Zhalgas Zhumagulov after his scheduled opponent Rafael Estevam was removed from their UFC 288 fight for "weight-cutting issues"? Or how about Austin Lingo after his scheduled foe, Ricardo Ramos, missed weight in March?
And that's the most significant point I want to make; MMA media needs to be more active and vocal about fighter pay. It can't just get loud when a fighter with a notable name, like Thompson, ends up in this situation. To borrow a phrase from Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch character, "Everyone matters, or no one matters."
Every time a fight gets canceled in a situation like this, the MMA media, especially the UFC access media, should get a clear answer from the UFC about if the fighter who made weight will get paid, and if so, how much they will receive. Ideally, the answer will be all of their "show" money.
Now that Thompson is in limbo regarding his UFC 291 pay, the media needs to keep on this story until it gets an answer from the UFC as to the outcome. It then needs to shift gears and work toward exposing the unfairness of the current UFC contracts when it comes to "show" and "win" money. Perhaps even bringing the issue to the athletic commissions, who are tasked with looking after the best interest of the fighters.
Too often, the weekly news churn of the UFC allows stories like Thompson's to fall through the cracks and get forgotten. The UFC counts on that fact, and the media needs to do better in holding the UFC to account. Perhaps that will change in this situation now that a popular, respected and long-tenured athlete like Thompson has been left wondering about his pay after absorbing the costs of a full fight camp.
With that out of the way, I will reiterate that the UFC is not obligated to pay Thompson, at least not contractually. And while I will say that I want every fighter to get paid their "show" money the moment they make weight, I would not have an issue, legally speaking, not morally, if the promotion's stance became all fighters need to step into the octagon on fight night to receive their "show" pay. My issue is either everyone gets their show money when they make weight or no one gets their show money until the referee signals the start of the fight. In other words, set a standard and stick to it. That's the fair way to administer a policy until MMA managers push the UFC to update fighter contracts across the board or the fighters get collective bargaining rights.
Now on to the “fun” part of the newsletter…
More than 2 hours of Pee Wee Herman from Letterman
A fight promoter gets in bed with a politician?
Don King throws his support behind Jimmy Carter - “He handed the President a promotional brochure for a recent fight, pointing to the words printed at the bottom. Below DON KING PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS THE GREATEST BOXING SHOW ON EARTH and poster pictures of the fighters, Carter saw DEDICATED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE HISTORIC-PANAMA CANAL TREATY! “I’m working for you, Mr. President,” explained King. “I totally support your efforts to bring a just settlement to Panama. I’ve dedicated my last fights to passage of the treaty.” via Esquire from 1978.
A podcast
Criminal dives into the story of how a group of Black men from Pittsburgh became the first paramedics in America.
An Essay
Where Tennessee Williams recalls the life, and death, of his grandmother, “Grand” via Esquire. From 1966.
Fiction
Chester Himes is one of the most underrated hardboiled writers going. This one, “Crazy in the Stir,” is from Esquire in 1934.
A Profile
The fantastic Pete Dexter profiles Evel Knievel after the daredevil decided he was a painter.
“A Portrait of Evel” via Esquire from 1985.
A deep dive into indy wrestling and insurance
If you’re a fan of MMA, from the smallest promotion to the billionaire boys club, this story is pertinent to that sport as well, because, well, none of those fighters get health insurance. And again, injury insurance is not health insurance.
“In American Indie Wrestling, Bodies Are Cheap And Healthcare Is Not” via Defector.
Some music
One of the best jazz tunes ever written, and an easy one for those who think they don’t like jazz to get into.