There has been a lot of talk lately about fighter salaries. MMA news in 2026 has been dominated by fights that haven’t happened and fighters refusing to fight because the UFC doesn’t want to. pay them a little more. Now former bantamweight champion and UFC star Sean O’Malley comes out and… not really complaining, but laying out both sides of the fighter pay equation.
O’Malley was on the MMA Guru podcast to explain why should he get the next 135-pound title fight against Petr Yan, who just defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333. O’Malley wants his belt back for obvious reasons, and one of those reasons is the champion gets paid better than everyone else… but still not as much as a champion boxer or a half-decent football or baseball player.
“We know, or the perception is, that these young fighters don’t make that much money, so don’t try to be in the UFC,” O’Malley said. “If your goal is to be in the UFC and become the richest person, that’s not going to happen. So don’t even try to become a professional fighter, if you end up complaining about money, that’s one way to look at it.”
“It’s like, hey, all these guys coming up know the pay for fighters isn’t that great. Whatever. So if you still want to keep at it and still want to get there, don’t complain too much. It sucks when you’re in a situation where you feel like you’re worth more, but that’s the way it is.”
MMA Guru noted that O’Malley’s training partner Tommy McMillen made life-changing money in the UFC after just a few impressive fights. But a $100,000 bonus doesn’t look so good when you’re one of the top stars of a multi-billion dollar company that pays millions less.
“The UFC completely changed my life,” O’Malley said. “I wouldn’t be where I am, I would never have made this much money with anything else. I’m forever grateful to the UFC. I’ll always be grateful to the UFC in that sense.”
“But there comes a point where it’s like, God, do I want to fight? I want to fight and it’s the next guy, but I don’t want to fight for the money. It’s like hell. There’s going to be a time where it’s a problem. But again, we still have to be thankful that the UFC gave us this fight, because where else are we going to go?”