by Brandon Richard
Reebok became the official outfitter of the UFC last December, but not all of the company's fighters are happy about the deal. Because Reebok has exclusive rights to apparel, some of the fighters have had to ditch lucrative sponsorships to meet company standards. Earlier this year, Anderson Silva said that he won't stop wearing Nike, even though he's no longer an endorser of the brand. Brendan Schaub, a heavyweight, claimed that he lost 6 sponsors for his UFC 181 fight against Travis Browne in December because of the Reebok deal. Things got even worse last week, when lightweight fighter Myles Jury literally trashed Reebok on Twitter, adding the caption, "Take advantage of people & no morals/values? YOU'RE TRASH."
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The exact reason for Jury's gripe is unknown, but UFC President Dana White says the company will not tolerate in-house badmouthing of its new partner. Speaking to reporters on a conference call with MMA Junkie, White said, "Yeah, he can’t go out trashing Reebok, but he did have a personal falling out with them. It did happen, and I’m going to have to manage it and fix it.”
Not everybody in UFC is unhappy about the Reebok deal, though. Veteran fighters are mostly pleased with their new sponsor, mainly because the reported tiered payout system favors them.
Below is a look at how much UFC fighters are earning from Reebok per fight, originally tweeted by Cody Gibson, but later deleted. Things are a little rough for new fighters, but accumulating fights in the company pays off. A fighter with 1-5 UFC contests will get $2,500 from Reebok, while a vet with 21 or more fights will earn $20,000 each time out. Champions and challengers are compensated even more.
Though UFC remains popular, fighters are widely considered underpaid. For his most recent right, Jury was paid just $16,000, so sponsorship dollars mean a lot to somebody like him. The mandatory Reebok attire policy for UFC fighters begins in July.
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