5. Pablo Garza
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9cyyAor_mo Pablo Garza first came to the attention of UFC fans as part of The Ultimate Fighter: GSP vs. Koscheck. He appeared in the first episode in 2010 but failed to make it into the house, losing his qualifying fight (as an exhibition bout, it does not appear on his official record). He fought in some smaller promotions then wound up back in the UFC anyway, where he would win two fights then go 1-3 in his last four before being cut. He relocated to Norway and hasn't fought since April 2013. Garza made a damning post about the UFC in December on Facebook prior to joining the class action lawsuit against the promotion. In it, he claimed the company tried to convince fighters to sign a petition that fighters were treated fairly. Here's a snippet;
Back in 2012 all ufc fighters were asked to sign a petition saying that the Ufc isnt a monopoly and that fighter are treated fairly. I was one of the few who chose not to sign it. And winning a bonus here and there doesn't make up for low fight pay. When there are 20 fighters on a card, winning a bonus is extremely slim and challenging. Also, winning a bonus doesn't mean yoy get the entire bonus. Out of the "bonus" manager get cuts, coaches, and most of all taxes. Winning a bonus means 30% goes to taxes, usually 20% to manager, and some to coaches, and there there's the fact that we need to pay for our training and travel for training. And many people know that eating like a professional means expensive food. My point is that we are professional athlete's who strive to perform a the highest level of fighting. To get paid $3000 to fight and $3000 to win is s**t pay when you are a professional athlete! Most ufc fighters take anywhere from 3-4 fights a year. And if you win your pay increases only $1000. So if we do the math and assuming they win all four fightrs. 3k-3k=6k. 2nd fight 4k-4k=8k. 3rd fight 5k-5k=10k 4th fight 6k-6k=12k for a years salary of 36k a year! Now, since we fighters are private contractors were then are placed in the 30% tax bracket and remember we are also paying 20% in manager fees and if you happen to fight overseas then the country tax is 15-20% more.
Now, base UFC in recent years has been $8,000 to show/$8,000 to win so he's either talking about an older pay scale or counting the expenses and taxes mentioned. However, outside that he has a very good point. Garza also spoke out against the UFC uniforms and how they would prevent fights from making sponsorship money.