Pathetic pay for MMA judges, referees revealed — and explain why nobody wants the job

With regards to MMA judges … you get what you pay for.

Longtime UFC reporter Aaron Bronsteter not too long ago revealed the present pay scale for skilled boxing, Muay Thai, MMA, and kickboxing payouts for referees, judges, and timekeepers working within the state of California, the place regulators proceed to tinker with the troubled method.

Put together to be underwhelmed.

This can be a huge purpose why extra fighters don’t get into officiating after competing, particularly after they could make far higher quantities selling their very own manufacturers.

“Cash is a serious impediment at each degree. MMA pays greater than it used to and we get higher expertise consequently. Identical logic applies in most industries and may apply right here too,” NY Submit Sports activities reporter Scott Fontana wrote on Twitter. “If judges/refs could make $4K a gig (they don’t), perhaps we see extra of us work towards that. By no means know.”

By comparability, referee Marc Goddard banked $2,500 for working the UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) occasion final summer time, in comparison with the $2,000 paid to judges Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato, and Ron McCarthy.

D’Amato took some warmth for his questionable rating in Spherical 4 of the UFC Vegas 75 primary occasion on June 17 in “Sin Metropolis.” It also needs to be famous that D’Amato scored greater than 40 rounds final weekend cut up between UFC and Bellator occasions.

“The chorus I get from ex-fighters I’ve spoken to who’ve thought of and even dipped a toe in is the juice isn’t definitely worth the squeeze,” Fontana continued. “Between the cash, the time to get reps to get to the highest, and the overall negativity officers obtain, it’s not engaging. Particularly former high-level fighters, I ought to word. You see extra ex-fighters doing it domestically and regionally, however most didn’t rise above regional exhibits as rivals.”

And let’s face it, officiating is a troublesome (and thankless) job.

State athletic commissions are charged with choosing officers forward of every occasion, besides in these instances the place promotions function outdoors of a regulating district and should function their very own governing physique, which tends to result in main integrity points.

Don’t anticipate something to alter till the payouts do.