“Wonderboy” Thompson Denied Purse: Latest in Fighter Pay Saga
Without question, UFC 291 was the event of the year to date, and easily one of the best in recent memory. However, there has been a dark cloud following the aftermath of the event; and ironically, it involves one of the nicest men in the sport – Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Read on below to find out what has been going on, as well as my view on what has transpired.
So, What Exactly Has Happened?
For those of you who remember (and for those of you who may have somehow been living under a rock), UFC 291 was a truly stacked event, with the main card being loaded to the gills with elite talent. Of many, one of the most anticipated fights on the card was a dream fight for fans; a welterweight clash between Michel Pereira and Stephen Thompson. This fight was extremely highly anticipated, with many people citing it as their favourite fight of the night apart from the main event.
Michel Pereira, Thompson’s scheduled opponent, weighed in three pounds over the welterweight limit prior to their fight. As a direct result, the fight was cancelled. (Image Credit: Sportskeeda)
Except, the fight never happened. Of course, there were no issues at all with “Wonderboy”, who weighed in at 170.5 lbs, half a pound under the welterweight limit. Pereira, on the other hand, missed weight yet AGAIN, weighing in 3 pounds over the welterweight limit (174 lbs). Given the nature of the weight miss, Wonderboy was offered the opportunity to proceed with the fight, a scenario in which Pereira would have forfeited 20% of his fight purse. However, Wonderboy declined the opportunity to continue with the matchup.
Why Did “Wonderboy” Decline The Fight?
Quite naturally, Wonderboy felt more than a little ticked off that an opponent of his missed weight yet AGAIN. Here’s the statement that he released in the aftermath of Pereira’s weight miss:
— “Wonderboy” Thompson (@WonderboyMMA) July 28, 2023
The most common point made in support of Thompson’s case is his fight against Darren Till at UFC Liverpool in May of 2018. In that fight, Till also missed weight (by 3.5 pounds), and went on to take the victory from Thompson. It’s hard to criticise “Wonderboy” when you consider how much of a company man he has been in the past, and hasn’t really benefitted from it.
So, Why Hasn’t Wonderboy Been Paid?
Following the event, “Wonderboy” confirmed that he had not yet been paid by the UFC, but that he was hopeful of sorting things out between himself and the UFC. Unfortunately, UFC President Dana White confirmed that Thompson would NOT be paid, confirming that simply making weight was not enough to warrant being paid. Speaking at the Tuesday night press conference at the Contender Series, White said:
“So how that works is, guys don’t just get paid to not fight,” White told reporters at Tuesday’s “Contender Series” post-fight press conference. “It’s not how that works. Guys have been paid. We’ve taken care of guys. Hey, listen, if you come in, and you’re making short money, we take care of you.
“You come in and you don’t fight — first of all, you decided not to fight. The guy was three pounds overweight, whatever it was, you get a piece of his purse if you take the fight. But if you deter you decide you don’t want to take the fight. We also offered him another fight.” However, White did suggest that “Wonderboy” might be reimbursed for the costs of fight camp, saying:
“If you don’t turn around quickly, then we try to figure out what did it cost for your camp?” White said. “We’ll reimburse you. You know, there’s a lot of different ways that this gets worked out. You don’t just go, ‘Yeah, this guy’s three pounds over, I’m not gonna fight, and no I won’t take another fight two weeks later, and pay me my show money.’ Not how it works.
“You don’t fight, you don’t get paid necessarily in the contract. But we always make sure that we take care of everybody, and we’re working it out with ‘Wonderboy’ right now. It’s all being worked out behind the scenes, and this should all be worked out by Saturday.”
Should Thompson Be Paid?
There has been a whole range of responses and views to this situation.
My own view on this is that Thompson should be paid, at the very least 50% of what he should have made. Ultimately, Thompson fulfilled his contract to make weight and fight. It really isn’t his problem that his opponent wasn’t able to do the same. It seems really unfair that Thompson put all the work that he did into his fight camp, only to be punished for refusing (which is his right) to face a different opponent on 24 hours’ notice. This situation is likely another poor look for UFC President White, especially in light of the various fighter pay scandals that the UFC has had to endure in recent years.
What do you think? Should Stephen Thompson be paid despite not fighting at UFC 291? Did he make the right decision to choose not to fight? Leave your comments and thoughts below, and thanks for reading!
[Scratches record] Yeah, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up here…or not. My name’s Keelin McNamara, and I am an AVID combat sports fan. Always have been, and probably always will be. I started writing and podcasting about MMA in the Summer of 2020 (yeah, we don’t talk about that here either). I’ve been doing it ever since, and have loved every single minute of it! Thanks for checking out whatever it is you’re reading – I hope you enjoy it!
