Colby Covington found a fresh target this week, and it’s the guy who runs the company he fought for. Covington used X to hit Dana White over fighter compensation, arguing that UFC athletes are underpaid compared with the money now moving through Zuffa Boxing. MMA Sucka framed his criticism around a reported $15 million Zuffa Boxing deal. Yahoo Sports and ClutchPoints both picked up the story, which tells you a former interim welterweight champion calling out the boss over money still moves traffic.
The pay complaint is Covington’s opinion. Nothing in the reporting so far puts verified UFC purse figures next to the boxing number, so the size of the gap he’s describing hasn’t been independently established.
The timing is what gives the shot some teeth. White co-founded Zuffa Boxing in 2025 and is its promoter, and he has been busy acting like one. On November 4 he announced Deontay Wilder vs. Jai Opetaia for the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua. That’s a lot of heavyweight boxing real estate for a man whose day job is CEO of the UFC, a title he picked up in 2023 when ownership was folded into TKO Group Holdings.
View post on X
The money trail around White is long. The Fertittas bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001, it sold for $4 billion in 2016, and Forbes pegged White’s own net worth at over $600 million in 2025. When a fighter wants to argue the split is lopsided, that’s the math he reaches for.
White has never been shy about matchmaking with a grudge, either. In a recent appearance with Jim Rome he admitted it outright while talking about Josh Hokit: “I didn’t like some of the things he said, so I might’ve threw some tough guys at him.” I’ve lost money on worse tells than that.
View post on X
White has had plenty to say in the last few days. He said Islam Makhachev had verbally agreed to fight Carlos Prates before pulling out, and on the question of how often a champion should fight, his answer was “twice would be nice.” He also told Rome the UFC is building Ilia Topuria’s return for early 2027. Covington’s pay gripe landed right on top of all that.
Whether White answers Covington directly is the next thing to watch. His track record suggests he’ll get a microphone in front of him soon, and the Fury vs. Joshua card, with Wilder and Opetaia now on it, is the event where every pay question is going to follow him.
View post on X
