Jake Paul’s investment in the UFC’s parent company is only the beginning of his war with Dana White, he says. He just dropped a brutal diss track on YouTube, featuring lyrics taking aim at White, Conor McGregor, and Jorge Masvidal, and ending with a spoken word section reiterating his long-standing beef with Dana regarding fighter pay.
“Dana, pay your fighters more. Give them healthcare, you scumbag. I haven’t met a single person who says anything good about you. I passed my drug test and you went silent.
Disrupting the UFC, A Fighter Union, and The Dana Diss Track: Jake Paul Goes to War with Dana White
I’m keeping my foot on your neck until you tap, b*tch. Stop raising your pay-per-view prices on the fans and not paying fighters more. Greedy, old, lonely, bald, b*tch.”
Elsewhere, in an interview with ESPN, Paul, 25, claimed that his ongoing social media feud with the UFC’s president is all about improving conditions for the UFC’s roster of fighters. Their continued “mistreatment”, he says, has to stop, and Paul believes he’s the man to do it.
“It’s really about the fighters. I’ve been in the gym, and I’ve seen how hard these guys work and how mistreated they are and how underpaid all of them are. So it’s really about fighter pay and getting them healthcare, and poking the bear and disrupting his whole entire business.”
Chief among his goals is to create a fighters’ union to allow the UFC’s athletes to engage in collective bargaining with the UFC. This would, he says, give them leverage with which to negotiate against Dana White and the UFC brass, and allow them their fair share of UFC revenues.
“I want to create a fighters’ union. This is my goal to really impact the whole entire sport, both MMA and boxing, and leave an everlasting stamp. I just so happen to not be beholden to anybody. A lot of these UFC fighters they are beholden to Dana White. They can’t speak out against him, so I’m using my platform because I’m one of a very few people who actually can.
I’ll say whatever. I’ll speak the truth. I’m doing what my responsibility is as a fighter and as someone who cares about other fighters.”
Reportedly, the UFC pays about 16 to 20 per cent of its revenue to fighters, while other major US sports leagues like the NBA or NFL pay around 50 per cent. This wouldn’t be the first time a fighter union has been proposed, and it likely won’t be the last. Whether it works depends entirely on whether the UFC’s roster will agree to work together in solidarity, a tall order in an inherently individualistic sport.
Do you think Jake Paul can change the UFC’s business practices? Let us know in the comments.
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