Israel Adesanya is one of the best fighters in the UFC, especially in the UFC. The Nigerian-born Kiwi was one of the busiest fighters in the UFC when he was the champion. Under the guidance of Eugene Bareman, Adesanya has become a worldwide sensation. However, Bareman appeared not to be a fan of Dana White‘s way of doing business in the UFC.
Fighter pay has remained a topic of debate in the UFC. The promotion recently settled a class action lawsuit concerning fighter pay for $335 million. The UFC has a unique business model where the champions get a share of the PPV revenue. Conor McGregor has made more money than any other fighter, but many feel that he deserves more. Eugene Bareman recently spoke about the sensitive topic on a podcast.
I believe that they could probably share more of the profit, yep, for sure… But it’s a sport where the fighters make a lot of sacrifices…They are physically trying to hurt each other. Tremendous, tremendous sacrifice that they’re making, and I just believe for that sacrifice, they deserve to be well paid for entertaining the masses.
Eugene Bareman via DOM Harvey podcast
Bareman refused to get into the number, stating it was for smarter people. However, he stated that MMA fighters have more difficulty than athletes from ball sports. For context, athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, and football (soccer in the US) make exponentially more than MMA athletes.
However, Bareman also stated a counterargument for his assertion that the UFC under Dana White was responsible for putting MMA into the mainstream audience. As such, Bareman has no ill will towards the UFC CEO’s way of doing business.
Eugene Bareman reveals the longest conversation he had with Dana White
Even though Eugene Bareman was critical of the UFC’s business practice, his star pupil, Israel Adesanya, is one of the highest-paid in the company apart from Conor McGregor. Despite minor disagreements, Adesanya has a good relationship with Dana White and the UFC.
Eugene Bareman reveals conversation with Dana White (Image via: IMAGO, X)Bareman was recently on the DOM Harvey podcast of the popular New Zealand podcaster Dom Harvey. On the podcast, Bareman revealed he only had brief conversations with the UFC CEO. Moreover, Bareman revealed the longest conversation he had with White.
I haven’t had big, long conversations with him [Dana White] at all. The longest conversation I had with him was at a fight a few months ago. I just asked him, ‘Are we the ones fighting on UFC 300? Is it going to be us?’ and he told me, ‘No, it’s not going to be us, it’s going to be another Alex Pereira.’ And then I just said, ‘Cool, thank you,’ and we moved on. That’s the longest conversation I’ve had with him.
Eugene Bareman via DOM Harvey podcast
The UFC has announced that UFC 305 will be in Perth, Australia, on August 18. Therefore, Bareman would be busy as many of his fighters could be on it. Israel Adesanya will likely headline the PPV against Dricus Du Plessis, the current middleweight champion.
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