Mike Tyson Thinks UFC Pay is a Joke, and Honestly, He’s Not Wrong
Mike Tyson, the man who once famously said he wanted to eat his opponent’s children, has thrown another verbal knockout punch, this time aimed squarely at the UFC’s wallet. In a world where crossover fights are all the rage and keyboard warriors endlessly debate who would win between a boxer and an MMA fighter, Tyson has settled one thing: he wouldn’t have stepped into the octagon in his prime for all the cheap Reebok gear in Dana White’s closet. Why? The pay is just plain laughable.
Speaking with a “not-so-fat Joe” for Hard Rock Bet, the boxing legend didn’t mince words. “Five of the biggest UFC fighters combined couldn’t match my pay,” Tyson declared. And just in case anyone missed the point, he added, “When Mike Tyson fights, he shuts everything down.”
You have to appreciate the honesty. This isn’t some polite, diplomatic answer. It’s the raw, unfiltered opinion of a man who was once the highest-paid athlete on the planet, a guy who treated multi-million dollar paychecks like pocket change. For Tyson, fighting was always about two things: absolute domination and securing the biggest bag possible. The UFC, in his eyes, fails spectacularly on the second count.
Why Tyson’s Paycheck Puts the UFC to Shame
Let’s be real, Mike Tyson wasn’t just a boxer; he was a global phenomenon. He was a force of nature who came into his prime just as the pay-per-view model was becoming the gold standard for big-time fights. This timing created a perfect storm of violence and capitalism, resulting in some truly mind-boggling paydays for “Iron Mike.”
Remember his fight against Michael Spinks? The one that lasted a whole 91 seconds? Tyson walked away with an estimated $22 million. That’s almost a quarter-million dollars per second. Most UFC champions don’t see that kind of money in their entire careers, let alone for a minute and a half of work.
To put it in perspective, the highest-paid UFC stars, even with their slice of the PPV pie, rarely break the $10-$15 million mark for a single fight. The only glaring exception is Conor McGregor, but even his biggest payday—a colossal $100 million—came from stepping out of the octagon and into a boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather. The message is clear: if you want life-changing money in combat sports, boxing is still the king, and Dana White is, at best, a court jester.
Would Tyson Have Enjoyed MMA?
It’s a shame about the money, really, because it sounds like Tyson would have absolutely loved the chaos of mixed martial arts. He wasn’t just about punching; he was about visceral, street-fight-level destruction.
“I want to slam them, I want to hold them, I want to choke them,” Tyson once admitted. “That’s what you want to do anyway if you’re in a street fight, right? You want to hit them, but you want to get them too, real good. Get them down, get on top of them.”
Can you imagine a prime Mike Tyson with a ground game? The sheer terror he would have inflicted? It’s the stuff of nightmares and MMA fan fiction. He clearly had the killer instinct for it. But as he said, if the paydays were big, “no doubt about it.” Spoiler alert: they’re not. And while Dana White is busy handing out pay cuts and defending the promotion’s business model, boxing continues to deliver nine-figure paydays for its top attractions.
The Never-Ending Debate on Fighter Pay
Tyson is just the latest, albeit one of the loudest, voices in a choir that’s been singing the same tune for years. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has been practically screaming from the rooftops about the UFC’s pay structure, pointing out the massive disparity between revenue and what fighters actually take home. He argues that if UFC fighters were given a similar revenue split to boxers (around 80/20 in the fighter’s favor), they’d be making “five, six, seven times more.”
The UFC’s business model is brilliant for the owners, but it’s built on the backs of fighters who are, for the most part, severely underpaid for the risks they take. While Dana White is launching his own boxing promotion—and ironically might have to pay his boxers more than his MMA fighters thanks to the Muhammad Ali Act—the debate rages on.
So, while we can dream of a world where a prime Mike Tyson could have traded his boxing gloves for a pair of 4-ounce mitts, the financial reality makes it a fantasy. Tyson knew his worth, and the UFC simply couldn’t afford it. And as he prepares for yet another exhibition fight at 59 years old, one thing is certain: he’s still all about the money, and he’s not afraid to tell you that what the UFC is offering is nothing more than a joke.
