Marina Shafir couldn’t stop “howling” as best friend Ronda Rousey ripped into the UFC over the issue of fighter pay during her Netflix press conference last week.
Rousey, who has never been one to pull punches, criticized how TKO is running the promotion that once helped launch her into a global star while speaking at the press conference for her upcoming return to MMA to fight fellow legend Gina Carano on May 16 on Netflix.
She said UFC used to be the best place for fighters to make a living and get paid fairly, and now it’s no longer, before calling it “one of the worst places to go.”
Shafir, a current AEW star and one of the Four Horsemen of MMA with Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Jessyman Duke, applauded her first for leading the challenger-brand charge with Jake Paul and former UFC executive Nakisa Bidarian’s MVP Promotions for the first MMA card on Netflix.
The UFC settled a landmark $375 million antitrust lawsuit — Le vs. Zuffa — in 2025 and is facing another — Johnson vs. Zuffa — that alleged the company illegally suppressed fighter pay and holds a monopsony in the sport. Main stars making millions per fight can skew the figure for average income for UFC fighters.
“For her to swoop in and just get right in with the f–king s–t, but not only be right in with the f–king s–t, but she’s just leading the goddam charge just like the trailblazer that she is,” Shafir said in a Zoom interview. “I think it’s a wake-up call to a lot of people in the MMA world. Maybe some people got a little too comfortable. Maybe there are some people who got a little too greedy with some money. Maybe there are just some people who are trying to take advantage of fighters and performers who actually really f–king care about this and know they have more to offer.”
White tried to reassure UFC fighters about pay during a Zuffa Boxing event last week.
“It’s never a bad thing when guys make more money. It’s always a good thing when there’s more money in the sport,” he said. “And since 2001, fighter pay has gone [up] nonstop. Obviously, we just got a great television rights deal, I promise you that fighter pay is gonna be just fine over the next seven years.”
The Rousey-Carrano fight was offered to the UFC while it was still running pay-per-views on ESPN.
Rousey told Jim Rome that CEO Dana White was excited to put on the fight and offered her likely the most lucrative deal of her career if she hit her normal PPV buy numbers.
But Carrano needed more to get ready and that deal was no longer financially feasible once the UFC inked its deal with Paramount, where fans have access to the card through a single subscription fee.
Rousey, who isn’t pinning any of this on White, believes there is no reason the UFC can’t afford to pay its athletes at least a living wage or at least match what athletes are making in other sports.
She thinks it’s keeping the best athletes from choosing MMA and leading to the UFC losing some of its stars, such as former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who will face Philipe Lins on Rousey’s Netflix undercard.
“This company just got $7.7 billion [from Paramount],” Rousey said. “There’s no reason they can’t afford to pay their athletes at least a living wage.”
Shafir, who will face “Timeless” Toni Storm at AEW Revolution on March 13 (8 p.m., HBO Max), still trains in MMA and is still around the sport.
She said she’s seen and had conversations with fighters who are struggling to make ends meet financially.
“It’s hard right now,” Shafir said. “The world is upside down and people are trying to make a living and there are people who are living and are f–king up the whole goddam system.”
She credits Rousey for having the guts to speak up about it, “guns a blazing,” when others going through it might be too ashamed to tell their story, calling it unfortunate
“Classic Ronda,” Shafir said. “That’s my best friend right there. I was howling at the truth bombs. I was f–king howling because she’s not lying. People get afraid to say stuff. People are afraid to talk about their experience.”
As for the next time we might see Rousey in a wrestling ring, Shafir isn’t certain now that she’s taken on the challenge of helping MVP grow their MMA brand. Rousey’s last two matches were teaming with Shafir in late 2023.
“I just know, she’s really in it with what she’s doing and I selfishly always hope so, but we’ll see,” Shafir said. “I don’t know. I have no idea.”
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