Luke Rockhold Won’t Fight For ‘Bullsh*t’ UFC Offer

There’s a lot to be said of the current payscale within the UFC. Ignore the fact the controversial Reebok deal screws most of the roster, we are talking about the contracts, the base payment of an individual who fights in the octagon. As the sport moves forward in to the new era of ‘money fights,’ will the mid to lower tier athletes suffer further? We already know that the real big bucks are reserved for a select few, and it doesn’t come easy to them by any means.

Take UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor for instance. ‘The Notorious’ not only fought his way through the promotion, he also carved a path in self promotion. Selling fights like few others can, McGregor has evolved in to a money making machine. While he benefits with record breaking pay checks with every pay-per-view that passes, your more ‘average’ fighters continue on salaries that often leaves them struggling to cover costs. UFC lightweight Paul Felder recently opened a GoFundMe page to help cover the part of the costs of his training camp.

Luke Rockhold

Then we have former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. ‘Rocky’ recently said he’d possibly take up a career in modelling due to the better rate of pay in comparison to fighting. You could argue there are a million different ways to get rich, and as mentioned fighting is currently not a simple route. That said, in the wake of all the recent talk of a fighters union being formed, should there be a better base rate of pay involved that covers risk to life and at the minimum a fighter’s training costs?

According to Rockhold, via BloodyElbow.com, his recent offer from the UFC is ‘bullshit.’

“Look, a lot of people are asking ‘when are you going to fight?’ I might have a bout agreement in the mail, but the money is bullshit,” Rockhold said on snapchat (HT: MMA Digest). “When the money is right, I’ll be ready to fight.”

Change?

Following the recent talk of fighter treatment and the rise of numerous fighters associations, will this issue be resolved? Quite probably not, at least not in the immediate future. These things take time, and for Luke Rockhold that might mean either a trip in to free agency and possibly even Bellator, or a stint as a male model making cash without getting beat up in an octagon. The debate about whether an athlete fights for love or money keeps coming around, here’s my question–can’t they do both?