Fighters and Pundits, the Message Over Money Discussion.

Should a business's top priority be itself or its consumers?

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou leaving the organization over failed contract negotiations is almost a direct parallel to political commentator Steven Crowder’s falling out with the Daily Wire.

UFC President Dana White claimed that Ngannou wanted more than his $8,000,000 per fight offer, the most in his division’s history. It would turn out that his demands were not solely about the money, but rather better conditions for the fighters. This would include universal health insurance and more avenues for all fighters to make money through sponsorships. Fighter pay is widely seen as the most pressing issue for the UFC’s sustainability, and it is very noble for Ngannou, who came from very humble beginnings, to try and help others in that same position with his sway in the world’s most successful mma promotion.

Your aspirations as a professional fighter are mostly about acquiring wealth, but there is a legacy aspect once you make it to the top. Politics does not function all that differently. There are certainly those who would rather see their ideas realized over their pockets filled, but the issue arises when everybody who cares about their financial security foremost are inclined to paint themselves as real fighters for the sake of likeability.

Crowder called out the Daily Wire for offering objectively bad contract starters for upcoming talent. Your salary vastly depends on whether or not big tech platforms like YouTube or Facebook support you. The typical rule of thumb is that expressing too many or too far right beliefs is grounds for them to censor or suspend your account. The guidelines are unclear, but it is interesting how the Daily Wire appears to be the only large right wing media conglomerate to not be hit with consistent demonetizations or worse. The upside to this is that working with them practically ensures your career will be stable, yet it is at the cost of not being able to tell the whole truth. Their hosts are great at stirring controversy while uniformly never really hitting on important topic matters like vaccine side effects, recent election anomalies, or actual conservative values- not advocating for what the left was ten years ago.

This is the part where I’m supposed to say that corporations can’t be in the wrong because of the free market, but that’s just not true. This is a case of a giant corporation acting antithetical to their supposed views, muffling the truth for profit. I was told I’m supposed to build my own media company and offer better contracts to solve the problem rather than just solving the problem itself. While I don’t know how to start a hundred million dollar business, I do know what better working terms would look like, and I do know that thousands of voices like my own can sway the actions of these companies. If there is someone in the position to revolutionize our entertainment sphere to break away from platforms that hate us, of course I would and do support them already.

The Daily Wire and UFC are in the same type of position. They are the biggest in their sphere, able to offer the most to the little guy. In practice, those future stars with the most to gain are hit the hardest by the industry being the industry. The largest talking head can be offered a bad deal that the up and comers can’t afford to counter, and literal championship contenders have made what today is considered starter pay.

In the end, both Ngannou and Crowder could just be looking for a larger payday and it wouldn’t matter. Other fighters believe it’s about the money first. The billionaire backers of conservative media certainly agree. I know I for one support telling the truth over life changing money in principle, and I hope that I would have the integrity to make that decision if the time ever comes. The arguments for better fighter conditions and political contracts are not contingent on the motives of those bringing it to light today, but rather what their success would mean for both of the ecospheres they inhabit.