The point isn’t financial impact; it’s that even the largest federations are vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement, which undermines confidence across the sport.
Why would I want to be beholden to a federation vulnerable to corruption? We can still acknowledge the validity of competing without being myopic about it and I think that’s a rather fair assessment.
Look at boxing for example. Professional boxing has a bad rap for corruption. Jake Paul’s boxing fights are professional yet no one takes them seriously, they’re turned into memes of Jake Paul knocking people out hooked up to oxygen tanks in wheel chairs. People still question Jake Paul’s legitimacy as a boxer despite fighting professionally. Who wants to be beholden to these sort of obnoxious theatrics?
You also have Ben Whittaker pulling his opponent over the ropes to end the fight prematurely and blame it on his injuries because he was losing for the first time which would have messed up his undefeated record.