UFC fighter pay is becoming a common topic of dissention from the ranks of former -- and in the case of Tim Kennedy, current -- Zuffa employees. In fact, the conversation has apparently grown so loud that UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta brainstormed a solution.

"You don't like the structure? Alright, we'll pay the lower-level guys more money -- no more f--king bonuses," Dana White declared at a Monday media gathering in Las Vegas (quotes transcribed by USA Today). "You guys come in, you negotiate your contracts, and we do away with all bonuses. That's what I'm thinking about doing. "

The UFC has long awarded fighters an opportunity to maximize their income via ‘Knockout,' ‘Submission,' and ‘Fight of the Night' post-fight bonuses, along with discretionary backstage bonuses that go largely unreported. The system provides meagerly paid undercard fighters a shot at a life-changing sum of money, such as James Krause, who earned duel bonuses totaling $100,000 in his promotional debut at UFC 161.

"The bonuses are something we've been doing out of the kindness of our f--king hearts," White said in frustration. "It was something we liked to do. Apparently, people don't like it. They want the lower-level guys to get paid more money."

White's prospective fix takes the UFC's allotted bonus money and funnels it into raising the minimum wage for entry-level fighters -- a solution that aids the UFC's lower class at the expense of the majority.

Such a measure would obviously become divisive the moment it was implemented, but White reasons that in the UFC's current state, it's unreasonable to expect a universal raise for all fighters. Furthermore, the UFC president noted that any comparisons to the NBA's or NFL's salary structure is misguided.

"We're more like Major League Soccer, as far as financials go," White explained. "You fight three times a year, you make [$50,000 to show and $50,000 to win], you're making $300,000 a year fighting three times a year. I know you have to take jiu-jitsu and do all these other things, but we have the same thing. We don't just put on fights; we have overhead, too.

"All these f--king morons have no idea what goes into this and what it takes to build a sport and a company at the same time. And we've been very fair to guys."

For what it's worth, Major League Soccer's league-minimum salary is $35,125 per year, while the league average falls around $160,000.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

White offers fighter pay solution. UFC President Dana White responded to criticism of low fighter pay by proposing a potential raise in the UFC's minimum salary at the expense of the promotion's post-fight bonus program.

White responds to Kennedy. Speaking at the same media luncheon, Dana White ripped Tim Kennedy for disparaging remarks made last week against the UFC's pay scale. "No disrespect, but who gives a s--t about Tim Kennedy?" White said. "Is he selling out venues? Are they buying a s--tload of tickets for Tim Kennedy?" Bluster aside, it should be noted that Zuffa slotted Kennedy onto UFC 162's main card, so perhaps asking the question 'who gives a s--t about Tim Kennedy' isn't the most tactful route to take.

Silva talks Jones. When asked about Jon Jones, middleweight champ Anderson Silva offered a surprising response: "Jon Jones, in his class, is the best. If I fight Jon Jones, I'm don't think I'm going to win ... Jon Jones is different. He's large. He's young. But, in the fight, I see in Jon Jones, I see myself from a long time ago."

The MMA Hour. Ariel Helwani and The MMA Hour are back in your life with a lineup featuring Chris Leben, Mark Munoz, Patrick Cote, Tim Kennedy, Ray Longo and Steven Seagal.

UFC 162 stakes. According to Dana White, if Anderson Silva loses to Chris Weidman on Saturday night, he'll be granted an immediate rematch. On the flip side, if Silva emerges victorious yet again, a superfight could be up next on the docket.

MEDIA STEW

Now here's something you don't see everyday. Former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe recently ended his retirement to fight muay thai. It didn't end well.

Check out the latest heaping of pros predictions. This time Lyoto Machida, Uriah Hall, Mark Munoz, Greg Jackson and a few others stop by to weigh-in on Silva-Weidman.

No joke, this is the best Pride-era cell phone commercial you'll see in your entire life.

(HT: Reddit)

Rob Kimmons is in the grey shorts, Tyler Stinson is in white/black. This one goes from bad to worse really fast. I won't spoil it, but when you hear that snapping sound, yeah, that's his ankle. (For the lazy, fight starts at 3:47.)

(HT: Reddit)

You guys are seriously killing it with the fan-made promos lately.

An MMA movie straight out of Hong Kong? Of course there's a Showtime Kick in there.

(HT: MiddleEasy)

FROM ONE CHAMP TO ANOTHER

Honored to hear the statements Silva made regarding a super fight me earlier today.. Doesn't change much, still working hard — Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) July 2, 2013

WEIDMAN'S BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL

PREDICTIONS

Both can win, but I'd take Silva"@AlexGymnopoulos: @JohnMcCarthyMMA who you have winning this weekend, Silva or Weidman?" — Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) July 1, 2013

My pick 4 sat is Silva. He is on another level mentally when fighting. Though I think ths will B 1 of his toughest tests 2 date. #UFC162 — Evan Dunham (@evandunham155) July 1, 2013

GOOD NEWS

.@InvictaFights @DIRECTV will be carrying the televised ppv. It will take a couple days to update listings.@TimWMMAToday :) — Shannon Knapp (@shanknapp) July 1, 2013

CHECKING IN

"@stonehocker Dan did u really retire? - Not sure mate, still trying to figure out my options. — Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) July 1, 2013

WELL THEN...

.@danawhite you are the worst promoter ever. It's like one of my 13 year old monkeys write your tweets. The Females. — Mayhem Miller (@mayhemmiller) July 1, 2013

I ammmm sooooo exccittted!!!!! I use toooo many lettttters and exclamation pooooints, that I can't afffford to paaaaay anyone!!!!!! Bitch — Mayhem Miller (@mayhemmiller) July 1, 2013

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announced yesterday (Monday, July 1, 2013):

FANPOST OF THE DAY

Today's Fanpost of the Day is a refreshing change of pace, courtesy of heavyfl0w: The Illustrious Career Of Renato "Babalu" Sobral: A Retrospective

I wanted to get all this onto a computer screen before people forgot that Babalu even existed. He deteriorated a bit towards the end, but he always had something going on. Check the link out below. http://mma-movement.com/the-illustrious-career-of-renato-babalu-sobral-a-retrospective/ If you tested the "What's the first mental image that pops in your head when you think about Fighter X?" exercise with Renato "Babalu" Sobral, most people would probably single out the knockout losses to Chuck Liddell. The first one in particular is a highlight reel staple, as Babalu leans forward right into a Liddell head kick that makes him wobble like he'd been tased by the LAPD. This should not necessarily be the focus when you think about Sobral, who gracefully stepped away from mixed martial arts after his demoralizing loss at the hands of Jacob Noeat Bellator 96. He choked up, made a heartfelt speech, set his gloves in the center of the cage, and walked away. His career is full of notable happenings, but he never had that one performance where you thought "Uh oh, Babalu is putting it all together!" Even though he did get better over the years, you never really noticed because he was already a well rounded heavyweight by the time "Sex & Candy" was popping off, during an era where many fighters were still laughably one dimensional. He could punch you on the feet, he could take you down, he could ground and pound you, and he could submit you. Let's take a quick cruise through the career of a fighter that will be unfairly forgotten in 2 years ... 1997-1999: Babalu wins his first eight fights, all at heavyweight. People forget that before he was a tatted, scary 205er, he made his bones fighting with no gloves and significantly larger breasts. I worded that last sentence weirdly, so make no mistake: I'm not pretending that I was watching MMA back then, because I was 11 years old. I was probably watching Salute Your Shorts. But the dude was a national wrestling champion in Brazil. Jokers from this era weren't messing with him. During this stretch and a couple of other times (most notably against future Quinton Jackson victim Mikhail Ilyukhin), Babalu picked guys up and simply threw them out of the ring. He did this on a semi-regular basis. It was like a wordless protest against the ring as a fighting area. "See, if we were in a cage, this would be impossible. Impossible!" He was ahead of his time. January 15, 2000: Fighting on a bizarre WEF card that featured all sorts of future stars, a bevy of weird rules, and a bunch of memorable finishes, Babalu's stoppage takes the cake. He punches Brad Kohler in the face, and the overly muscled victim of lactic acidosis lunges in for a last-ditch-effort takedown. Babalu shucks it off, winds up, and kicks a 45 yard field goal using Kohler's head as the ball. Kohler's entire body lifts off the ground. And it's ... good! February 26, 2000: After already fighting twice that night, Babalu tussles with Dan Henderson in the finals of the RINGS: King Of Kings tournament, and after two rounds the judges award Henderson a majority decision. RINGS rules were such that if a fight went two rounds and two or more judges saw it as a draw, then the combatants would fight an extension round to determine the winner. The weird thing? After two rounds, two judges had the fight a draw, and the other had it for Henderson. So Henderson was awarded a majority decision even though the majority of the judges scored the fight a draw. Henderson won the tournament, and his next fight was against Wanderlei Silva in PRIDE. Babalu's next fight was against Travis Fulton on 4/20. Alter careers for no reason, much? I'll say. October 9, 2000: Bouncing back from the Henderson loss with a four fight winning streak, Babalu loses to Valentijn Overeem by way of toe hold. I bring up Valentijn's accomplishments every time I can because his record and behavior during fights make them seem impossible. September 6, 2003: Babalu enters into the IFC: Global Domination tournament. He wins the whole damn thing in one night, beating Trevor Prangley, Jeremy Horn, and a young buck named Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The tournament victory was particularly meaningful for Renato, having lost his brother just two months prior. "I had every reason to back out of that tournament. I had the feeling to just not compete, but when I went in there that night, I fought those fights for him. I gave those victories to him. That was a unique night for me because I felt like I had some extra powers inside of me." -Renato Sobral ... Whoa. This was his greatest accomplishment, and to do it all in one night is relatively amazing. Hell, wins over Prangley, Horn, and Rua would still look good even if they happened NOW. November 27, 2004: Babalu guillotines Cyrille Diabate while wearing grappling pants. October 7, 2005: He becomes the first fighter to make Chael Sonnen scream in pain, that I know of. This will go on to happen many more times. What's strange is that Sonnen didn't tap to the obviously painful heel hook. He's tapped out to way more pedestrian subs than that. No matter. He beats Sonnen with a triangle choke. August 26, 2006: Riding a ten fight winning streak, Babalu gets his rematch with light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. 95 seconds of mindless flailing later, Liddell is spasming around the octagon while Babalu thinks it's Tuesday. I remember thinking that Babalu could beat Liddell, but you have to understand that I didn't think he'd get tagged and just start windmilling. However, this fight was a classic case of me wanting a guy to lose rather than actually looking at the matchup. This was Babalu's big chance at redemption, and he failed spectacularly. After he was knocked out by Jason Lambert that next March, his days as a respected light heavyweight seemed to be numbered. It was Jason Lambert, for Gods sake. August 25, 2007: Babalu fights David Heath at UFC 74. At the weigh in the previous day, Heath wore a t-shirt that displayed Babalu's mugshot (Babalu had been arrested prior to the fight). Babalu didn't find this funny. In fact, he probably thought Noam Chomsky was funnier. The next day, Babalu was a man possessed in the cage, doling a sobering ass whipping to Heath in the first round and choking him unconscious in a pool of his own blood in the second a couple of seconds after Heath had clearly tapped. Babalu defended his actions, talking about how Heath had to learn respect, which was coincidentally the name of UFC 74. Hey, David Heath, for future reference: You might not want to piss off a guy who is going to destroy you on paper and now has an extra motive to do so.This was Babalu's last appearance in the octagon, as the UFC chose to release him after the incident. January 24, 2009: Babalu taps Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou with a brabo choke at the infamous Affliction card that saw oodles of guys get comically overpaid, and true magic happens when Tito Ortiz steps into the ring to interview him. He begins with "I'm here with Seraldo Babalu". In fact, I'm just going to stop right there. He's here with Seraldo Babalu. That's not even close. But it sure was humorous. Can we get Todd Harris in the booth with Tito Ortiz? 2009- 2013: Renato goes 2-2, dropping a rematch to Dan Henderson and getting knocked out by Gegard Mousasi in a famous snapshot that sees him staring up at the light fixtures like he just saw a grown man naked. He did post a nice win over Robbie Lawler during this stretch. After a last ditch signing with Bellator, Babalu goes down in flames in both fights, to Mikhail Zayats and Jacob Noe, respectively. It was an anti-climactic end to a storied career. Babalu retired with a 37-11 record. He was in the fight business for 16 years, no small feat. He was a good fighter, but not a great one. But he mattered. He always mattered. And when history looks at his record and videos in 25 years, he still should.

Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we'll include it in tomorrow's column.