Max Holloway is looking for championship paydays. Now that he holds gold, he’s calling out UFC brass to make it happen.
Max Holloway walked out of UFC 212 an undisputed champion. Now he wants to get paid like one.
Holloway defeated Jose Aldo on Saturday night in Brazil, beating the once unbeatable champion and taking his place as the best featherweight in the world. As he exited the Octagon, wearing his new championship belt, his shoulders wrapped in Hawaii’s state flag, Holloway wasted no time in calling out UFC president Dana White for a meeting and subsequent payday.
“Dana, I want my meeting!” Holloway shouted into a camera held by MMAJunkie’s John Morgan. “Pay the man! Pay me money! You said you were big-game hunting! Tell me what big game! I just got one on your head now!”
Holloway picked up $50,000 in a bonus for earning Fight of the Night at UFC 212. Because he fought in the championship main event, he also got a $40,000 payday from the Reebok sponsorship. As more and more fighters air grievances about the struggle to earn a living under the UFC banner, Holloway aimed to make it clear that what he’s done warrants income up and above the norm.
What the newly crowned champ likely seeks now is a fight purse that hits the seven-figure mark, like other title holders that have come before him. Names like Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey and some others have reportedly received multi-million dollar paychecks for one night’s work, and it’s only reasonable that a fighter with an 11-fight win streak and a title might want the same.
The size of the check depends on the size of the fight, according to what Holloway said UFC brass explained to him. He said during the post-fight press conference that White told him “this is big-game hunting” and the larger the fight, the bigger the payday. Since he just took out Aldo, Holloway sees that as the biggest game one can score on a UFC safari.
“The bigger the game you bring in to the table, the bigger paychecks you get,” he said, adding, “and I think Aldo is a silverback gorilla. Now I want my paycheck. I don’t want money fights; I want to get paid.”
