UFC flyweight Matt Schnell has planted his flag on which side of the fighter pay debate he stands.

The Amory, Miss., native began his professional MMA career in 2012 and, as many do, worked his way through the regional scene. Mostly competing for Legacy FC, Schnell captured an interim title in 2016. From there, he joined the season of champions edition of The Ultimate Fighter 24 for a shot against the then-flyweight king Demetrious Johnson.

“I was a Legacy champion getting matched with guys like Damacio Page, 25/25 [$25,000 to show, $25,000 to win],” Schnell told MMA Island. You want to discuss unfair fighter pay?” “Let’s discuss what is happening outside of the UFC. Even these guys in Bellator, I know they have some prospects that they pay well, but 90 percent of the guys who fight on that night are making [$1000 to show, $1000 to win]. Don’t talk to me about that, it’s preposterous.”

One of the biggest stories in MMA is about UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Following Ngannou’s recent title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 this past month, “The Predator” revealed he was paid a disclosed $600,000 for his efforts. Ngannou was crowned champion on March 1, this year. He has been trying to get more for what he feels he is entitled, regardless of whether it’s a possible Jon Jones megafight or boxing match with Tyson Fury.

Now Ngannou will have knee surgery. He tore his MCL, and damaged his ACL while preparing for Gane. He believes his contract will expire in December.

Schnell isn’t buying any story sold by the worst man on earth.

“I also think it’s woefully dishonest that Francis Ngannou’s running around acting like he only made $600,000,” Schnell said. Schnell said, “I am certain he received pay-per view points from Reebok. He got paid for it, got paid for it, and got paid for that. He probably made — I’m not gonna say it, but way more than $600,000. So I mean, of course, I want to make more money, everybody wants to make more money. I will fight for it .”

The fighter pay debate often leads to comparisons to other sports, which is where things get tricky with MMA not a team sport. Players are employees in the NFL, MLB and NBA. All have players unions. MMA fighters are, however, considered independent contractors. There have been many attempts over the years to form an association or to create a collective bargaining arrangement, challenge their employment status and to organize.

“To compare the UFC to the NFL is also preposterous,” Schnell said. “On a slow Sunday, the NFL grosses $1 billion. They got 60 million people tuning into Joe Burrow [and the Cincinnati Bengals] vs. Patrick Mahomes [and the Kansas City Chiefs]. $60 million. What’s a good UFC pay-per-view? [500,000]. One million? Ooh, we’re killin’ it.

“I’m not one of these guys who is like, ‘Oh, we need to do this, we need to do [unionize].’ I don’t want a fighters union. It’s a pleasure to be able to bargain for myself. I’ll sit down at the table and negotiate for myself. I don’t want somebody negotiating for everybody else’s bullsh*t. I don’t care. I want people to make more money, absolutely. But people debuting? 12/12, that’s an awfully nice payday compared to what they’ve been making.”

Though he’s been vocal in more ways than one, Jake Paul has brought the topic of fighter pay to the forefront of discussions along with Ngannou. Paul aided former UFC flyweight Sarah Alpar in funding her training camp ahead of her previous fight. This week, he opined that Israel Adesanya deserves “at least $7 million a fight.”

Despite this, Schnell still doesn’t believe Paul is genuine until he does something remarkably significant like start his own MMA promotion.

As for the fans who have their complaints, all you have to do is shut up and buy, says “Danger.”

“How about start a promotion and you pay them better? I think that’s a great idea,” Schnell said. Start a promotion to make them more money. Jake Paul, I will be the first to know if things don’t go according to plan with UFC. Because I will go there, and I’ll hold my end of it. However, I have no idea where they are coming from.

” All these people are stealing fighters’ pay. Your f*cking mouth must shut. Buy the pay-per-view, motherf*cker. You want to see us get paid more? Buy the pay-per-views, ya goofs. And I feel ’em, it’s expensive! It’s a difficult time. Gas ain’t cheap, nothing’s cheap. We gotta keep on pressing forward. You want to complain about fighter pay? Go for it, but make sure you’re the one paying for the pay-per-views as well.”

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 271 Pre-fight press conference highlights.

Presser staredowns.

UFC 271 Embedded.

DC is out of retirement.

Rise of Casey O’Neill.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Morning, partner.

Jiri + CCC.

That’s a lot of 185ers.

Zombie is now available.

Neiman is nasty.

Sign ’em, Dana.

History.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Curtis Blaydes (15-3) vs. Chris Daukaus (12-4); UFC Columbus, Mar. 26

Brian Kelleher (24-12) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (13-0); UFC 272, Mar. 5

Virna Jandiroba (17-3) vs. Angela Hill (13-11); UFC Fight Night, May 14

Yoel Romero (13-6) vs. Melvin Manhoef (32-15-1); Bellator Paris, May 6

Ray Borg (15-5) vs. Ricky Bandejas (15-6); Eagle FC 46, Mar. 11

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I wonder what the UFC would pay these cats if they signed with them. Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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