UFC president Dana White has responded to Paige VanZant’s claims that she makes more money posting on Instagram than she does fighting in UFC.
VanZant claimed on Tuesday that she wanted more money on her next UFC contract because she’s ‘been extremely accomplished outside of the UFC, as well as inside of the UFC,’ and that she’d be ‘at a loss’ financially if she stopped her endorsements and just focused on fighting.
On Wednesday White was asked during the Contender Series media scrum about the comments. The UFC president smiled and said, “Good for her. That’s awesome. Listen, if a fighter can make more money doing other things, good for her.”
VanZant had told the Ariel Helwani show, “The hard thing for me to put in perspective is with endorsements I make way more money sitting at home, posting pictures on Instagram, than I do fighting.
“With endorsement deals and everything I pull in from social media, I would actually be a loss just taking a fight and focusing on that. If I were to stop everything I do outside of fighting and take a fight, I would be at a loss financially.
“When I did my contract negotiation the last time, the talk was, ‘I can’t pay you more than a female champion’.
“Okay, but why are comparing me to just women? All of us should be getting paid more in general.”
The 25-year-old has had her injury problems inside the octagon and only fought once since January 2018. She fought Rachael Ostovich in January on the UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw card, winning with a 2nd round stoppage.
VanZant has said she should be back sparring soon after recovering from surgeries on a broken arm.