In recent years, the world has seen Jake Paul evolve from viral prankster to legitimate prizefighter. But along that path, a different side of him began to emerge—one that took a serious jab at the inner workings of professional combat sports. On an episode of The Iced Coffee Hour podcast, Paul didn’t pull punches when reflecting on his long-ongoing public war of words with UFC President Dana White. It turns out that the feud wasn’t just about publicity—it had roots in something deeper: what Paul saw as the exploitation of fighters.
“I started being around boxers and MMA fighters and all this stuff and would always hear how underpaid they were,” Paul explained to the hosts. What first began as locker room chatter turned personal when he met Amanda Serrano, arguably one of the most accomplished female fighters alive. According to Paul, she was earning just $4,000 a fight. “I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “How is this possible?” That disbelief snowballed as more and more fighters—particularly from the UFC—began to open up to him behind the scenes. “We don’t get paid this… we’re being taken advantage of,” Paul recalled them saying. What started as a curiosity quickly became a mission. “I basically accidentally became a spokesperson for like women’s fighters and for MMA fighters,” he added.
Paul’s observations led him to a blunt financial comparison. “The UFC only pays its fighters like 10% of its income,” he claimed, “whereas like in the NBA and NFL, the athletes get paid 50% of the total income.” While this 10% figure is debated (independent analysis estimates UFC’s revenue share to fighters is closer to 16–20%), the contrast with other leagues is still significant. Paul argued that, unlike traditional athletes, many fighters lack basic protections like health insurance and often need second jobs to survive. “You’re paying these fighters a minimum of $12,000 for a fight… why not increase it to 50,000?” he asked rhetorically. “You’re gonna make the sport better because they’re going to take it more seriously… it’s just going to be better for the whole ecosystem.”
Jake Paul terms Dana White’s UFC a “monopoly of sorts”
When the hosts of The Iced Coffee Hour podcast asked about Dana White’s response, Paul didn’t sugarcoat it. “He just doesn’t have to,” he said. “It’s just capitalism at the end of the day… he can pay them whatever he wants essentially, or they won’t fight.” Paul framed the UFC’s structure as a “monopoly of sorts,” suggesting White wields near-total power over fighter contracts and compensation.
This isn’t just Paul’s opinion anymore. A wave of scrutiny has hit the UFC from multiple angles. Fighters like Demetrious Johnson—widely considered one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time—have pointed out the staggering pay gap compared to WWE and boxing. As TalkSport reported, Johnson lamented missing out on the kind of megafight paydays that Conor McGregor and WWE talent earn, noting that some WWE stars make upwards of $200,000 annually, while UFC base purses can hover just above $10,000.
And the stakes have escalated even further: after a nearly decade-long legal battle, the UFC is poised to pay $260 million in a class-action settlement to more than a thousand current and former fighters, as reported by The Guardian. The lawsuit accused the UFC of suppressing fighter wages by locking athletes into restrictive contracts and maintaining a near-monopoly on high-level MMA opportunities.
Jake Paul may have entered the ring for entertainment, but somewhere along the line, he stumbled into a cause. Whether or not Dana White will ever increase fighter pay remains uncertain. What’s undeniable is that the issue is no longer relegated to backstage whispers or podcast rants—it’s front-page news. In calling out the numbers, Paul seems to have struck a nerve in an industry that too often asks fighters to risk it all for very little in return.
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