John S. Nash
Details: Diaz earns ‘well into the eight figures’ vs Paul in career high payday
Bloody Elbow's John Nash spoke with Nate Diaz' representative about how much the fighter expects to make for fighting Jake Paul.
Q1 Finances: UFC net income is down
Bloody Elbow breaks down the 2023 first quarter UFC Finances.
UFC fighter pay drops, profits skyrocket over every fight promoter combined
Breaking down the 2022 UFC finances.
Game changer: All the contract details from Francis Ngannou's unprecedented PFL deal
John S. Nash breaks down how Francis Ngannou's deal not only make him one of the highest paid fighters but also give him an unprecedented of level of freedom.
Francis Ngannou signs lucrative PFL deal, boxing still an option
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is on his way to the PFL in a deal said to make him the highest paid heavyweight in MMA.
PFL is rumored to be buying Bellator and it's kind of true
Several companies, including the PFL, are in talks to buy Bellator.
UFC admits to ‘lower athlete costs,’ as they boast ‘best financial year’ in 2022
Endeavor Group Holdings, the parent company to the UFC, recently released their 4th quarter and full year earnings for 2022. For the full year, they saw $5.268 billion in revenue, up $190.4 million over 2021, and their adjusted EBIDTA was $1.164 billion, up $283.2 million year-over-year. Endeavor also noted that they had made $500 million […]
The Champion’s Choices: So what’s going to happen to Francis Ngannou?
Sometime very soon we should know what the future holds for current UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou. Will he remain with the company and defend his title, possibly in a megafight against Jon Jones, or will he test the market and potentially try his hand at boxing? Both possibilities seem likely at this point, because […]
Documents show UFC now makes over $1 billion a year; minimal costs and more growth expected
A new credit analysis from investor service company Moody’s was released on May 25th for UFC Holdings, LLC. This comes on the heels of Endeavor’s May 12 earning’s call and most recent SEC filings. Independently, each of these contain a few nuggets of information regarding the UFC’s current finances. Together, we can try to infer […]
First to escape the champion’s clause? Ngannou’s unique opportunity helped by these UFC contract changes
The UFC's 'champion's clause' has been a major sticking point for big stars of the past.
Why Francis Ngannou’s toughest opponent is a UFC contract
Over the years, more than a few UFC champions have had disputes with the promotion. From Tito Ortiz almost boxing Dana White, Randy Couture resigning from the promotion to try and get a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St-Pierre getting berated by White for not defending the title on the UFC’s schedule, to Jon Jones […]
ONE Championship’s 2020 finances: $48 million more in losses, and a curious $400 million transaction
For the past few years, Bloody Elbow has been following the finances of Group One Holdings Pte. Ltd., the company that does business under the name of ONE Championship. During that time, the company has consistently made bold statements about its current status and confident projections about its future, while raising hundreds of millions from […]
‘Biggest first half ever’ – Endeavor’s Q2 earnings reveal UFC doing record business
On Monday the parent company of the UFC, Endeavor Group Holdings, released their second quarter earnings results. While the company missed Wall Street expectations with only $1.1 billion in revenue for the quarter, this can’t be blamed on the UFC which saw impressive growth and has proven to be a cash cow for the heavily […]
Patricio Pitbull vs A.J. McKee, and the real prize in Bellator’s Grand Prix
Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, California, Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire will defend his title against A.J. McKee in the finals of Bellator’s Featherweight Grand Prix, a bout many have called the biggest and/or most important fight in Bellator history. While it is doubtful that it will generate the ratings of Kimbo Slice […]
UFC fighter pay has increased but the promotion’s profits have increased even more
In response to a question from CNBC regarding low fighter pay, Endeavor Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel (Endeavor is the parent company of the UFC) had the following to say: “Since 2005, our fighter pay is up 600% – for a sport that [Dana White] created 25-30 years ago.” Ignoring this new wrinkle to the […]
Video: Yes, the UFC is a monopsony
There has long been a reluctance by fans to acknowledge that the UFC is a monopsony. The reasons for this are numerous, but a major factor is surely that for there is just a general misunderstanding of what is a monopsony. It is because of this misunderstanding that I made the video above. While most […]
Nate Quarry on MMA Ali Act and UFC: ‘We just want them to pay more’
Fighter pay has been a hot topic over the last few months as Youtube star turned-boxer Jake Paul has sought to highlight what he views as low pay for fighters from the UFC. Fighters such as Francis Ngannou and Paulo Costa have also expressed their own opinions, all while pound-for-pound great Jon Jones remains in […]
Finances: UFC’s revenues and earnings drive Endeavor IPO
A new Moody’s Credit Opinion was released on May 5. This, along with the March 31 S-1 Investment Prospectus (and the updated April 26 S-1/A) give us some details regarding how the UFC did financially last year. (Spoiler: they did great.) According to Moody’s “UFC’s revenues for 2020 were well over $800 million.” Elsewhere it […]
MMA vs Boxing Finances: Why can’t Jon Jones make as much as Deontay Wilder?
During Jon Jones’s recent impasse with the UFC — “recent” being the last twelve months — we have heard on multiple occasions how Jones is asking for Deontay Wilder money in order to fight Francis Ngannou, who is now the newly crowned heavyweight champion. “I’ll quote him and what he had said to my lawyer. […]
The UFC’s Reebok Deal is over, how much went to the fighters?
UFC 260 marked the end of an era, as it was the last event held under the Rebook uniform deal. Signed in late 2014 and starting in Q2 of 2015, the six-year deal was originally reported to be worth $70 million total over its lifespan. The deal was one of many major policy changes the […]
Endeavor looking to buyout owners, gain total control of UFC
The New York Post is reporting that Ari Emanuel is making plans for Endeavor – of which he is the CEO – to buyout the other shareholders in UFC Holdings. Currently Endeavor owns 50.1 percent of the UFC and is looking to buy the remaining 49.9 percent, the majority of which is held by the […]
Finances: Is Evolve MMA really worth $360 million?
Recently Bloody Elbow examined the finances for ONE Championship, utilizing filings with the Accountant and Corporate Regulation Authority, which is Singapore’s version of United State’s Security and Exchange Commission. Since other noteworthy MMA entities have filed with ACRA we thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at the financial statements for Evolve MMA, […]
Finances: Dana White, and the UFC’s locker room bonuses
It’s not often that Dana White is willing to discuss issues of fighter pay. But last week, for whatever reason, he saw fit to share with Scott Fontana of the New York Post how much the UFC paid out last year in discretionary bonuses (or “locker room bonuses” as they are often called by fans […]
ONE Championship finances: Losses balloon to $229 million, $99 million in one year alone
For the last few years I have been tracking ONE Championships finances, posting summaries of their annual filing with the Singapore Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA.) These previous financial statements showed a company that was losing tens of millions a year while also managing to raise hundreds of millions from institutional investors. (You can […]
UFC 257: Conor McGregor Purse Revealed. Maybe?
Both the Independent and Forbes have reported on the purses for tonight’s main event. According to the Independent yesterday, McGregor “has a disclosed purse of $5m plus a share of the PPV,” which “could bolster his overall earnings for the fight to around $20m.” Meanwhile, his opponent “Poirier has a disclosed purse of $1million – […]
Judge grants class certification for the Plaintiffs in UFC antitrust lawsuit
Almost six years to the day that the Le et al v. Zuffa LLC antitrust lawsuit was filed a status conference hearing was held that lasted only a few minutes during which the Judge issued a ruling that surprised no one who had been following the case. Yet, as expected as his ruling was, it […]
UFC Finances: UFC increasing debt even as they continue to generate cash flow
Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings both reported last week that UFC Holding’s, LLC was looking to add on another $150 million to their current 1st lien Term Loan. The net proceeds for this add on would be used to pay off their outstanding revolver balance. The add-on would increase their current term loan […]
Prize Fighting: The distribution of MMA fighter purses
Last summer I wrote an article looking at the distribution of purses amongst boxers using the payouts from 11 different state athletic commissions (the only ones that will release such data). At the time, I had planned on doing a sequel that looked at the distribution in pay amongst mixed martial arts fighters, having already […]
ONE Championship finances: Accumulated losses skyrocket to $126 million
Back in October of 2018, Bloody Elbow took an in-depth look at ONE Championship’s finances using the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (similar to SEC in the US) financial documents filed by the MMA promotion themselves in Singapore. Despite various claims made by the promotion publicly, their financials painted a completely different picture — one […]
UFC Finances: How much does Jon Jones make fighting for the UFC?
Over the last few days a spat between the UFC’s president, Dana White, and the promotion’s light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, has played out in the public’s eye. According to Jones, he had made what he thought was the understandable request for a new, higher purse in return for going up in weight to fight […]