Gray Maynard Claims Dana White ‘Pimps Out’ UFC Fighters, ‘Takes Most Of The Money’
Former UFC lightweight title challenger, Gray Maynard has claimed that promotional president, Dana White “pimps out” fighters, and “takes most of the money” from revenue earned – amid the longstanding issue with promotional fighter pay.
Maynard, a 20-fight Octagon veteran and former two-time lightweight title chaser, called time on his professional mixed martial arts career back in 2019 after parting ways with the organization the year prior.
The UFC and Dana White have received much scrutiny recently amid the issue of fighter pay in the promotion
13-7-1(1) as a professional, Maynard most notably competed for UFC lightweight gold twice against former champion, Frankie Edgar in 2011, battling to a split draw, before suffering a fourth round knockout loss in an October rematch.
Sharing his thoughts on the issue of fighter pay in the promotion amid a slew of complaints from fighters up and down the UFC’s roster, Maynard claimed its leader, White, was “pimping out” fighters on the organization’s books, and taking most of the revenue made for himself.
“No,” Gary Maynard replied to a Twitter user who suggested White put himself and other fighters on a “pedestal”. “He (Dana White) made money off my blood/sweat and paid me sh*t. (Dana White is) Still making money from a lot of my fights being replayed. I was on a pedestal because I worked my ass since I was 3 years when I started wrestling. He just pimps us out and takes most of the money.”
Maynard further claimed that he was guaranteed just $26,000 for his first title challenge against Edgar, and soon realised there may be better ways of securing income.
“Look man, I don’t expect you to understand my experiences working with the UFC,” Gray Maynard tweeted. “But I can assure you after my 1st title fight when I was only guaranteed $26k. Reality hit pretty hard and I started finding other ways to make money.”
During his Octagon tenure, Arizona native, Maynard landed notable victories over the likes of the aforenoted, Edgar, Dennis Siver, Rich Clementi, Jim Miller, Roger Huerta, Nate Diaz, Kenny Florian, and Clay Guida to name a few.
