Ronda Rousey has claimed that the pay structure at the World Wrestling Organization is better than the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
As a pioneer of women’s mixed martial arts, the ‘baddest woman on the planet’ was one of the highest paid fighters in the UFC during her career.
Two years after suffering back-to-back losses in the UFC, Rousey started her pro-wrestling career with the WWE, with rumors saying she was earning $1 million per year.
Asked about the difference on how the two sports organizations pay their athletes, Rousey said she likes that the salary in WWE are given on a regular basis compared to the UFC, where fighters are only paid when they compete.
“I think it comes with the age of the sport. The older the sport is, the more the athletes can really can start to come together and fight for what they think they deserve as a unified front,” she told Steve-O at the Wild Ride podcast.
Developmental Programs
The 33-year old wrestler also lauded the wrestling promotion for building programs that do not only develop the athletes’ skills but also ensure their health and safety.
“The WWE being older, they definitely have developmental programs where they bring people into live and train by the [Performance Center] in Orlando,” she continued.
“They get a salary and they get unlimited access to doctors and physical therapists and all these different things. As an Olympian, I would have been so happy to have something like that.”
“UFC originally didn’t have anything like that.”
“They started moving toward like, okay, we’re getting some kind of medical insurance, cause it used to be like, okay, you’re only going to be covered for injuries up to 60 days [after] the fight.”
“Then okay, we’re going to get some kind of medical insurance.”
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Taken Care Of
Unlike the UFC, ‘Rowdy’ said the WWE treats its athletes like employees and does not leave them ‘high and dry.’
“WWE’s even better, because everyone’s on salary. It’s not like you show up for a fight, you get paid, you show up for a fight, you get paid. They’re treated like employees.”
“They actually are on a salary, it’s much more secure. If people get injured and they can’t perform months and months and months on end, they can actually continue to pay them.”
“[They] pay for their medical treatment and make sure they’re taking care of.”
“They do their best not to leave people high and dry. They really invest in talent and spend time building and developing them.”
“As soon as they hire people, they’re on salary right away, which is very, very different from having these lumps of prize money.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Ronda Rousey and UFC)