Retired Dennis Bermudez argues for more judges, flat fighter fees
“That was another reason about retiring, because it doesn’t pay to lose.”
Featherweight Dennis Bermudez retired following a win at UFC Fight Night on ESPN+ 1 and during an appearance on Luke Thomas’s The MMA Hour, he offered some informed opinions about the future of the sport.
I’m honored to have worked with the highest echelon of MMA, said Bermudez, as transcribed by Alexander K. Lee for MMA Fighting. Everybody behind the scenes was very nice to me and I’ve always been a yes man to the company.
I’ve been fortunate enough to not have to have a real job, if you will, and just focus on training. I don’t have a huge house, but I own a house. I don’t have a very expensive car, but I have these things, I’ve been able to put food on the table for myself and my kids and not really have to stress about bills. So it could have been worse if I was working a toll booth or something like that.
On unionization, Bermudez was of two minds.
The sport is still very young compared to the NBA and the NFL,” he said. “I’m like, ‘If I was younger and started later maybe I would get these big dollars.’ And then on the other end of the spectrum, if I’d started MMA earlier and I was older, I would have known more and been able to crush those guys that are the pioneers and that are these big stars now. I’m in that middle where I’m just a tough guy.
Bermudez holds a UFC record – his last three losses were all Split Decisions; he has a clear change in that regard – seven judges instead of three. And he wants a flat fee, rather than the show/win that is standard in the sport.
That was another reason about retiring, because it doesn’t pay to lose, explained Bermudez. For example, the Saints just lost the other day and they’re not going to become champions in the NFL, but they’re going to go home and live a very, very comfortable life. In that four-fight losing streak, I was fighting paycheck to paycheck. So even though to the average person, making 50 grand to show up, like, ‘Whoa, that’s a lot of money, I only make that in a year.’ Yeah, but now I have to pay taxes on that. I have to pay my manager. I have to pay my trainers. The diet that you have to eat is way more expensive than Hot Pockets and stuff like that. Eating very clean and the supplements and stuff like that. So 50 grand after all that is said and done is like, 25 grand or something like that? Maybe less?
And then living on Long Island is expensive. I have two boys, I have a mortgage on a house, and so I was living fight to fight on a four-fight losing streak there.
The thing is if I was going in there — let’s say I was getting $100,000 a fight — if I was going in there like, ‘Alright, I’ll just fall down in the first round,’ I’m not going to stick around in your company for very long, said Bermudez. No fighter thinks that way, especially if they put in the proper training and anything like that. I’m going in there every time to try and win. I’m going in there to give it my all. And if there are guys that are willing to go in there and take a fall, they won’t last long in the company and they’ll get booted.