In a lot of ways, Sean O’Connell is a useful case study in the life of the mid-tier UFC fighter. For one thing, he’s got a day job (though he’s somewhat rare in that he works in broadcasting as a sports talk radio personality). For another, he’s had to get creative in order to get noticed by fans.
His brawling style has made for some exciting battles, earning O’Connell (17-8 MMA, 2-4 UFC) “Fight of the Night” bonuses in three of his six UFC fights. It’s also earned him a losing record in the UFC, and a lot of physical damage that he said may not be justified by the money he’s making under his current deal.
His last disclosed payout saw O’Connell earn $18,000 in a loss to Ilir Latifi on the prelims of UFC Fight Night 81. On Friday he’ll step into the octagon against Corey Anderson (8-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 102 for the last fight on his current UFC contract. Whether he signs a new deal will depend on what’s he’s offered, he said, and his opinions on what that offer should look like are colored by everything from the recent UFC sale to the push for a fighters association.
So how does a thoughtful, intelligent fighter weigh his options in a changing sport? In this conversation (edited for length), O’Connell takes us through a complicated calculus currently being performed by fighters and managers all around the UFC.
Question: I’ve heard some fighters and managers mention that, the price tag of the sale, as the thing that opened their eyes to the financial reality. But the UFC has been saying it’s worth billions for years. How much did it affect your thinking to see a hard number come out from the sale to WME-IMG?
The number that people should being paying attention to is the split. I’ve seen estimates of anywhere from 8-to-12 percent of (UFC revenues) going to fighters. In other sports, the split is much more generous to the athletes, much more evenly divided. That’s the number we need to be paying attention to.
Because, yeah, that $4 billion or whatever it was, that opened my eyes. This company is profiting a lot. If a group like WME-IMG is investing that kind of money in this, it’s not because they’re just big MMA fans. It’s because there’s that much money in this. And if there’s that much money to be made, it means there’s that much money to be paid.
Entire Q&A here: A UFC undercard fighter weighs risks and rewards: 'I'm taking years off my life'
