~$12bnTKO Group
Reported UFC valuation when the Endeavor–WWE combination was structured in 2023.
$375m
Fighter Pay
The Number Everyone in the Business Already Knew
The UFC settled Le v. Zuffa for $375 million in 2024, ending a decade of antitrust litigation over what fighters are paid against what the promotion earns. Then it sold its media rights again. Read the piece
The octagon photographed as an institution rather than an event — the asset at the centre of the settlement.Photo: Silvere Meya / Pexels
Combat sports are the only part of the sports business where the biggest promotion pays its athletes a smaller share of revenue than any major league, and everyone involved knows the number.
Fighter Pay
What a revenue share looks like when a union negotiates it
16–20%UFC fighter pay as a share of revenue, in the Le v. Zuffa litigation period
~50%NBA player share, under its collective bargaining agreement
~48%NFL player share, under its collective bargaining agreement
0MMA promotions that have ever bargained with a players’ association
The comparison the antitrust case rested on · Fighter Pay, five pieces
Founding supporters
Evil Angel Transexuals — owns its niche the way the UFC owns the octagon.Girls Only Porn — a dedicated roster, one ruleset, zero crossover bouts.FTMMen — built exclusivity into its contract before most platforms understood the asset.The Yes List — proves consent frameworks matter more than raw contact.
Who Owns What
Four owners, four ideas of what the product is
~$12bn
SeasonPFL · Bellator
A standings-and-playoff format, bought from Paramount, paying on the bracket rather than the card.
SingaporeONE Championship
Its own weight system, its own hydration rule and its own broadcast model.
The Rules
The sport is regulated by whoever happens to run the state you fight in
New Jersey’s commission adopted the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts in 2000 and the Association of Boxing Commissions amended them in 2017. The ABC has no enforcement power, so a foul in Nevada may not be a foul in Florida.
1998
Grappling
Grappling has money for the first time, and the entry fees are the argument
ADCC has run its submission wrestling championship since 1998 and now pays; the IBJJF circuit pays too, and what it charges to enter against what it awards to win is a public dispute.
The Federations
Boxing lost its federation and nearly its place
The International Boxing Association was derecognised by the IOC over governance failures, and the route into LA 2028 now runs through World Boxing instead. Karate was in at Tokyo 2020 and gone for Paris 2024; judo has rewritten its own rulebook four times since 2010.
Supporters of the desk
Ass Parade — has benchmarked its market longer than most promotions have existed.Mom Wants Creampie — no tapping out, no withdrawal, her terms only.I Know That Girl — turned street-level scouting into a recognisable rights-holding brand.Lubed makes every handshake as smooth as the deals behind the belt.
Fake Driving School knows some road tests never make the record.
Bad Teens Punished — operates under its own disciplinary code, no outside jurisdiction.
1882
Where It Came From
Six dated moments that explain why the business is structured the way it is
Kano opens the Kodokan in Tokyo; Funakoshi demonstrates in 1922; the nine kwan take one name in 1955; Maeda teaches Carlos Gracie from 1917; Ip Man reaches Hong Kong in 1949; eight men fight in Denver in 1993. Read as commercial origins rather than martial-arts history.
