(“Paying fighters a living wage? Why, that’s simply bad business!”)

We always assumed that the only reason fighters sign with Bodog Fight is because the company is drooling with cash — it certainly isn’t for the recognition or the level of competition. The operation is run by Calvin Ayre, who’s made hundreds of millions of dollars from his online gambling empire Bodog (and can’t set foot in the United States because of it). To paraphrase Chris Rock, if Calvin Ayre woke up tomorrow with Dana White’s money, he’d jump out the fucking window. Sadly, it looks like Ayre’s ill-gotten gains don’t trickle down to the guys who compete on Bodog Fight cards. MMA Weekly just released a new roundup of recent fighter salaries, and we were shocked when we saw the numbers from BF’s event last Friday in Las Vegas, in which Nick Thompson defended his welterweight title against John Troyer:

TUFF-N-UFF/BODOG FIGHT MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS
Nick Thompson: $20,000 (defeated John Troyer; no win bonus)
John Troyer: $5,000 (lost to Nick Thompson; no win bonus)

TUFF-N-UFF/BODOG FIGHT UNDERCARD FIGHTERS
Seth Baczynski: $2,000 (defeated Chris Kennedy; win bonus was $1,000)
Chad George: $1,500 (defeated Richard Screeton; win bonus was $500)
Angela Magana: $1,500 (defeated Lynn Alvarez; win bonus was $500)
Bryan Humes: $1,250 (defeated Ryan Murray; win bonus was $500)
Chris Kennedy: $1,000 (lost to Seth Baczynski; win bonus would have been $1,000)
Ryan Murray: $1,000 (lost to Bryan Humes; no win bonus)
Sara Schneider: $1,000 (defeated Kaitlin Young; no win bonus)
Richard Screeton: $1,000 (lost to Chad George; win bonus would have been $500)
Aaron Simpson: $1,000 (defeated Scott Dingman; no win bonus)
Kaitlin Young: $1,000 (lost to Sara Schneider; win bonus would have been $500)
Lynn Alvarez: $750 (lost to Angela Magana; win bonus would have been $500)
Scott Dingman: $750 (lost to Aaron Simpson; win bonus would have been $500)

TUFF-N-UFF/BODOG FIGHT DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $38,750

In other words, Ricardo Almeida made more money for submitting Rob Yundt in 68 seconds at UFC 81 then all of the Bodog Fight payouts combined. No wonder Nick Thompson has been looking elsewhere. He’s arguably the most exciting fighter that Bodog had under contract, and they can’t even hook a brother up with a win bonus? I’m done criticizing Dana White and the Fertittas — it’s time to start hating Calvin Ayre. The man could certainly afford to spend money on attracting/keeping talented fighters and promoting his shows so that people actually care about them. But he’s too cheap, too lazy, or both. So what’s the point of even having an MMA league in the first place?