Kajan Johnson was just one of many fighters who raised their voices about fighter pay during the UFC fighters retreat this past Summer.
Since the fighter's retreat, the fighter has been keeping tabs on the UFC and says the promotion plans on announcing some kind of financial initiative for the fighters this Fall.
“[The UFC] hasn’t disclosed what it is exactly, but they did hit some sort of roadblock logistically or legally that halted them from being able to release and set it up in the middle of August like they planned,” Johnson tells Bloody Elbow. “It does make me happy that they are doing something to help increase our earning power or maybe even put money directly into our pockets, which would be even better. It’s a whole lot better than nothing. Is it going to be enough? Is it completely going to bring our earnings up to what they should be? I highly doubt that, but I think it’s a step in the right direction, and that’s really all I can ask for at this point.”
There are already a few financial plans in place for the fighters, from their contracts, to performance of the night/fight of the night bonuses and the Reebok sponsorship payouts.
Johnson has also been contacted by the UFC to see what he thinks on some of the plans they had in mind.
“They had a couple ideas that they wanted to run by me, just get my opinion on. So that’s cool; it feels good to be kind of a part of the process. The athletes are the ones that are directly affected by it, so it’s great to get our input on them before they’re actually put into action,” says Johnson.
Other than Johnson, the promotion has yet to make any kind of announcement regarding a new financial plan of any kind for the fighters.
