By:  | March 2, 2023 10:50 am

UFC octagon girl Luciana Andrade appeared on The MMA Hour last night. She was extremely outspoken when asked whether or not she earned more than the fighters do.

The answer, in case you were wondering, was an emphatic ‘no’. Not only did Andrade make it clear that fighters do not earn as much as octagon girls but she also spoke out against the people who are perpetuating these rumours.

Andrade accused people of deliberately spreading lies and says her and her fellow octagon girls have been subjected to online ‘hate’ as a result:

Break down

Andrade didn’t get into specific figures. So we have no idea how much octagon girls earn although it sounds like they are paid per event rather than receiving a regular salary.

She notes that some of the octagon girls based outside the US like Red Dela Cruz might only work a handful of events every year,

We have 14 girls across the globe and some girls work a few times a year because we don’t have international fights with the same frequency we have in the US. Let’s talk about the US girls, you work once, twice a month if you’re lucky. Do you really think we would be making more money than the fighters, than the broadcasters, than the commentators?

But while Andrade is adamant that she definitely does not earn as much as a fighter she makes it clear that she does enjoy being an octagon girl,

I’m not complaining about my pay, no-one put a gun to my head and said ‘hey sign this contract’. I did it for my own reasons, for me mostly it was the travel. I don’t come from money from the ages of 16 to 19 I remember having like two pairs of jeans so travelling was never a reality. The fact that I was able to travel, that was my reason.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Luciana Andrade (@lucianaandrade)

Convenient scapegoat

But she is well aware that there is a perception that the UFC pays the octagon girls better than the fighters. She believes that there is an agenda to try and make this mistruth an accepted wisdom,

It’s just crazy to me that people still think that’s true. We get so much hate whenever a fighter says something like that. It’s kind of irresponsible sometimes when you do know it’s not true but you do use us as a scapegoat to create hype or clicks.

While Andrade makes it clear she has never been in a relationship with a fighter she has nothing but respect for the people that actually step inside the octagon to competem

I have the most respect for fighters, it’s so entertaining for us to watch but it comes with a sacrifice for then. We never said we were more important than fighters but of all the people you could use you use us to complain about fighter pay!