Being a full time "Professional Fighter" - possible

Here's a run down of salaries in the UFC for one event.
It's pretty clear some guys are making VERY decent money and are probably millionaires at this point (GSP, Machida, Couture) while others will surely have to supplement their fight purse with a second job. Sponsorship and PPV cuts can help though so it's tricky to be totally sure.

Georges St-Pierre: $400,000 ($200,000 to show, $200,000 win bonus)
Lyoto Machida: $329,000 ($200,000 to show, $129,000 Knockout of the Night bonus)
Randy Couture: $250,000
Jose Aldo: $177,000 ($24,000 to show, $24,000 win bonus, $129,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Pablo Garza: $137,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 win bonus, $129,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
Mark Hominick: $135,000 ($6,000 to show, $129,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Jake Shields: $75,000
Vladimir Matyushenko: $62,000 ($31,000 to show, $31,000 win bonus)
Jason MacDonald: $52,000 ($26,000 to show, $26,000 win bonus)
Ben Henderson: $34,000 ($17,000 to show, $17,000 win bonus)
Nate Diaz: $33,000
Jake Ellenberger: $32,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 win bonus)
Rory MacDonald: $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 win bonus)
Mark Bocek: $15,000
Claude Patrick: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)
John Makdessi: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 win bonus)
Daniel Roberts: $12,000
Jason Brilz: $11,000
Charlie Valencia: $10,000
Ryan Jensen: $10,000
Ivan Menjivar: $8,000 ($4,000 to show, $4,000 win bonus)
Kyle Watson: $8,000
Sean Pierson: $6,000
Yves Jabouin: $4,000

 

Thats a fair point, and I'm not defending them. They would argue that they're actively training to make themselves employable (by fighting) and a couple of them have stopped getting benefits (not sure if they had a choice about it!) and not just support themselves with their fight purses.

Some though I agree are just basically funding a hobby at the tax payers expense.

 

Just lookng at that blows my mind.
Pablo Garza for example. Was looking at going home with $8000. Instead goes home with $137000. An amount that would have a serious impact on someone's life.
Meanwhile Yves Jabouin goes home with $4000.

I think one of the biggest obstacles to fighters earning a decent living from fighting is the fighters themselves.
So many seem to splash out on luxuries, gather cronies around them and don't plan for the future.
It's the same in boxing too.

 

I think illustrates just how tough it is to make a living at fighting. Aside from the top earners on here noone is making alot of money, considering the level they are fighting at. Mark Bocek, a fighter who's been around for years and has fought at a high level on numerious UFCs gets 15k. If he gets three such high level fights in a year he gets $45k. Minus all his training fees, agent fees, management fees, medical expenses etc etc. Not alot considering he's probably be retired before the age of 40 and has to save for a potentially very long retirement.

 

In the UK there are many avenues for earning a living through fighting. If the definition of a "professional" is someone who gets paid. Then the bare knuckle traveller fights must be taken into consideration. I'm aware of guys in Holmewood (Bradford, England) fighting as regular as they feel like it. Some every couple of weeks. But this is always a winner takes all system, the fighters or their supporters put the money up as a bet. (I've seen some as little as £500) but usually closer to the £2000 - £5000 mark.

Recently saw an excellent documentary about a cameraman who followed the feuds of two rival travelling families for over 10 years and how much money they made. The last fight each fighter had to bring £60,000 to the table each! The fights were great to watch too.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606259/ Knuckle 2011

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX8qcOWFr-w"]Knuckle Movie Official Trailer 2011 HD - YouTube[/ame]

 

It's more or less the same in Finland. But i think the people who actually make a living from fighting can be counted on one person's fingers and toes. There's just not much money to be made in fighting around here.

I could have been describing myself as a semi-pro all this time?
All those chances of ego-boosting gone :cry:

 

Its very nice to take home 5/6 figures and the figures look very attractive, but when you deduct costs from it all...not just Managerial/training membership/training staff etc. but also domestic ie home bills, travel costs, food and anything else that has been 'back dated' sometimes is nearly nothing left.

Just randomly...lets look at Charlie Valencia

Loss - Ivan Menjivar - UFC 129 April 30, 2011
Loss - Miguel Torres WEC 51 - September 30, 2010

Thats a 7month difference between 2 fights (both being losses) he got $10k for losing in UFC, possibly a lot less for losing while in WEC.
Thats 7 months worth of mortgages,bills, petrol, training, food, family etc...its not too far off from less than minimum wage depending where you're from. So one has to assume he also has to have a side job, teaching MMA or something else. And this is mid-card UFC, the biggest MMA organisation, a lot of us would dream to just be on the Facebook fights alone!

Zuffa has mentioned that they pay side money to fighters which is undisclosed but I'm guessing politics also plays a big part in it as well.