In a recent appearance on the “Nothing Left Unsaid” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg stated that he would have likely joined the MMA industry instead of wrestling after finishing up his football career if the pay was similar to today’s standards.
MMA athletes were paid much less in the ’90s than today as the UFC wasn’t as popular back then.
Goldberg said, “100000% percent. No question. Back in the day, the guys who were fighting at UFC were training at my gym. I owned a gym after Main Event Fitness called Obaki Fight School in Atlanta. It was the largest MMA gym in North America. Those guys were training at my gym. Randy Couture, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman. I got to be good friends with them and we were talking about what they were making, as I was trying to decide what I was going to do. That option went completely off the table once I heard they were making 2 to 3 or $5,000 a fight. Absolutely ridiculous. Obviously, nowadays, it’s changed exponentially. I would have probably chosen mixed martial arts if the payscale was where it is now.”
Goldberg’s WWE contract expired at the end of 2022 and it was not renewed by the company.
