MMA SQUARED: If you thought UFC rankings were a joke, wait til you hear about fighter pay

Let’s compare two heavyweights. One is a top five fighter and the other is a regional level fighter with name recognition. How different could their purses be?

It was recently disclosed that Greg Hardy was paid 150k (75k show and 75k win) to crush a tomato can that had already washed out of the UFC — who, by the way, was paid 10k for his troubles.

In the grander heavyweight scheme, Curtis Blaydes, fresh off a unanimous decision over Mark Hunt and a vicious bludgeoning of Alistair Overeem, was paid exactly half (75 show, no win bonus) to have his brains concussed all over China by Francis Ngannou. Why bother being good when being famous nets you the same pay for a fraction of the brain damage?

Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Chris.