Jared Cannonier is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday, July 18th, in the co-main event of UFC Oklahoma City, and he’s using fight week to speak out on fighter pay.
Cannonier, ranked No. 10 at middleweight, will face No. 12 Christian Leroy Duncan in the co-main event. Duncan is described as having a 7-2 UFC record, while Cannonier is described as having an 11-9 record. Cannonier has been in the UFC for over a decade and is currently in a gatekeeper position at middleweight, with a recent 1-3 run.
In an interview with Full Send MMA, Cannonier was direct about compensation in the sport. “The fighter pay conversation, I would love to get paid more,” he said, later adding, “We lose a lot of money that’s not coming to us” and “Fighters are definitely at the s--t end of the stick of this whole business.”
Cannonier pointed to changes in sponsorships and how the UFC rewards performance and marketability. “We used to get a bunch of sponsors. We still get sponsors, but the landscape, the changing of the landscape changed that for us, and it didn’t leave us with much of anything at the end,” he said. He also stated, “I think I should have million-dollar contracts, not $100,000 contracts and stuff. At the stage that I’m in, you know? I’ve been top five, top ten for about seven to eight years.”
