You’d think if you were on prime time TV, you are at the top of your game and you have sponsorship with a label like Reebok you’d be getting a big pay cheque. Well that’s not the case. Last night Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko only made $2500 in sponsorship money each from Reebok.
Sure that isn’t the only money they made, nor was the card a PPV card, it was free on FOX. But still, you’d think these guys would of made more money from such an established internationally known label.
As it turns out, this was actually the lowest Reebok have paid out in the whole of 2016. Back in the day, fighters would get paid out $100,000 plus from featuring as the headline on the card. For those that don’t know, how the sponsors and the UFC work out who gets what is largely based on things like how many fights you’ve had in the UFC.
This is what’s making some fighters think about moving over to Bellator. Some guys have already fought on Bellator cards and said how the money is great. I’m not sure if things are changing in the UFC because of the recent take over but something is happening for sure. $2500 is a long way away from hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Just $2500 each from reebok last night.
How it works with the UFC is, fighters are paid sponsorship money by the UFC that’s been given to them from Reebok. It’s not based on rankings, it’s based on how many fights you’ve had and this is how it breaks down. Fighters that have had 1 to 5 fights get $2,500, those with 6 to 10 fights get $5,000, 11 to 15 fights earn $10,000, 16 to 20 fights receive $15,000 and fighters that have had 21 fights or more get $20,000.
When you are a UFC champion you get $40,000, while title challengers get $30,000.
Fighters have been complaining that their earnings have decreased since they are not aloud to use their own sponsors.
Things seem to be changing with the money in the UFC, something fighters are taking very seriously. Matt Mitrione has said in the past that fighters used to accept the low base salary from the UFC beachwear so they could make a lot more in sponsorships, but that’s not the case anymore.
Vitor Belfort has shared his strong opinions on Reebok:
“I’m not satisfied with the way the company is handling sponsorship. We are pretty much living in slavery. We can’t use our own sponsors; they are banned inside the Octagon. We have no properties… It’s a contact sport. I don’t think it’s fair for someone to earn 500 dollars to be elbowed in the face. There has to be a retirement plan, which does not exist now.”
Some fighters have more than strong opinions, they have had strong actions regarding sponsorship money. Matt Mitrione fired his manager, the same manager that Jon Jones has, for only getting his $5000 for a fight that wasn’t even the main headline fight.. But still that was double what both Holly Holm and Valentina Shevchenko got together for being a headline fight.
I’m with the fighters on this one, why should fighters be getting less and less money for fights each year, taking elbows to the face and risking long injuries in a sport that’s growing each year.
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