Tim Kennedy slams “pathetic” UFC fighter pay: “I would have made more as a garbage truck driver”

Former UFC middleweight contender Tim Kennedy slammed the “pathetic” fighter pay in the UFC saying that he “would have made more as a garbage truck driver.”

After Paige VanZant said that she would have made more money working a normal job in the last six years rather than fighting in the UFC, Kennedy took to social media to agree with her. In a fiery message directed to the UFC, the veteran middleweight said that the money the UFC pays the fighters is “pathetic” and admitted he would have made more driving a garbage truck. Here’s what Kennedy wrote on his Twitter.

I was a top 5 fighter in the world, fighting main events for the UFC, and I said I would make more as a garbage truck driver. That was almost 10 years ago. It’s pathetic that things haven’t changed @ufc https://t.co/OIUb33MfU3

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) July 7, 2020

Tim Kennedy: I was a top 5 fighter in the world, fighting main events for the UFC, and I said I would make more as a garbage truck driver. That was almost 10 years ago. It’s pathetic that things haven’t changed @ufc

Kennedy was responding to a tweet about what VanZant said earlier in the day when she spoke to MMAFighting.com’s Damon Martin and slammed the UFC for its low fighter pay.

“I’ve added up all the money I’ve made in the UFC over six years, and I could have just had a regular job with the same pay. I’m so thankful for everything the UFC has done for me, the platform they’ve given me. This is nothing against the UFC. But the contract I signed is what I signed and I know I need to honor it. That’s why I’m fighting this last fight out and I was never trying to break it early,” VanZant said, which Kennedy responded to.

“It’s important to fight this fight out, honor my contract and then say listen this is my value and this is what I need to be paid to make it worth it. People just need to pay attention, we are sacrificing day in and day out and we feel we need to be paid our true value. That’s pretty much it. I love the UFC. I love fighting for them. They’ve given me so many opportunities but I’m trying to set up a future for myself. I’m not trying to compare myself to any other fighter. I’m not saying I deserve more than any other UFC fighter. I think we all deserve more. We all deserve to be paid more.”

Kennedy (18-6) was a former middleweight title contender in Strikeforce. He joined the UFC in 2013 and went 3-2 overall in the promotion with wins over Michael Bisping, Rafael Natal, and Roger Gracie, plus defeats against Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum. He retired from MMA following a TKO loss to Gastelum in Toronto in December 2016.

Do you think Tim Kennedy and the other fighters are right to slam the UFC for fighter pay?