Former two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre spoke about fighter pay and weighed in on heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou‘s situation with the UFC.
Fighter pay has been a hot topic in recent years. YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul shines a light on the issue as often as he can. Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones wasn’t able to renegotiate a new contract with the fight promotion. The heavyweight champion, Ngannou, wants more money to ink a new deal.
St-Pierre believes change is on the horizon.
“I think there will be a time when fighters will be having better conditions in this sport including their pay, maybe life insurance and stuff like that,” St-Pierre said during an appearance on The MMA Hour.
“It’s like anything else. It was the same thing in ice hockey, baseball, football, basketball. Before the union came, it was a mess. It’s the same thing. Mixed martial arts is relatively, kind of a new sport, and I think it’s only a question of time.”
St-Pierre is friends with Ngannou and offered to give “The Predator” career advice. Ngannou fought the last fight on his contract in January. He’s currently sidelined recovering for surgery, but hasn’t reached a new deal with the fight promotion. Money isn’t the only hurdle a new deal has to overcome, but it’s one of them.
Dana White, UFC fighters react to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars
“He’s got an incredible story, and he made it. I’m so glad that he made it, and now he deserves it 100-percent. He even fought his last fight, I heard that he fought with a knee injury. That’s crazy. He took an enormous risk, and now it has to pay off. Now things need to pay him. Life needs to pay him back. He worked too hard for this. He deserves it more than anybody,” St-Pierre said.
““I’m telling him as a friend that he needs to get paid to his value. And if he’s not satisfied with what the UFC gives him, then go seek, go get your service somewhere else where they’re going to pay you well because he’s not young and he’s coming to that point.
“He’s a heavyweight and you never know what can happen. One punch can change the fight. It’s very rare to see a heavyweight stay champion for a long time because of that reason. So he needs to get paid. He needs to go somewhere where he’s going to be paid what he’s worth. If the UFC is not ready to do that, now he has the power on the side and he can negotiate because of his contract. I believe he’s in a very good position right now.”