Novotny: Octagon pays big money, we have a chase with it. It’s a business that few people understand. What decides the amount?

Money in MMA has been a big topic for a long time. Even the biggest organization, the UFC, has faced criticism, sometimes even the Czechoslovak number one, Oktagon. Promoter Ondřej Novotný did not avoid the question of fighter salaries in his podcast on Friday. How did he react?

To enjoy a pure MMA career? Realistic, but still not enough to make it a reality for every fighter. On the contrary. There are fewer of them rather than more. And by a wide margin. The biggest stars can make fabulous money, it just depends on self-promotion.

Overall, MMA salaries are a hot topic. Organizations can often defend themselves by saying that partners, sponsors and other financially crucial factors have to be found by the fighter. A great example in this regard is Karlos Vémola, who is known to almost everyone in our country.

After all, the organization has, of course, big costs beyond salaries. So it is easy to criticize. That’s why Ondřej Novotný was also asked about this topic in his podcast MMA Flight Around the World.

How does Novotny perceive the salaries in the Octagon?

Ondrej Novotny got a question from a fan, saying that Oktagon is a big organization, so why doesn’t it pay fighters big money. Novotny responded quite extensively.

“We pay big money. So big that we’re in a rush with it. We pay money that we can afford and that is reasonable. We don’t want to overpay fighters. And when someone says we don’t pay big money, I say they don’t understand,” the Octagon promoter let it be heard.

According to Novotny, the issue has several factors. First of all, he mentioned the fact that it’s a young business that not many people really understand, and that there are few people and few organizations in it.

“With the people who are in it and I will say they understand it, we wink at each other and know exactly what the fighter is worth. Then that price can change depending on whether that fighter is a hot commodity for whatever reason and whether you need it at any cost or not,” Novotny says.

“There are two sides. If you make a deal on some terms, you were both happy at that point. Sure, you can be dissatisfied with one or the other later on, it happens on both sides, but that’s the contract and that’s negotiated in any given sport. The fact that we wouldn’t pay big money is very ridiculous,” he concluded the topic.

Source: MMA Around the World