This is nonsense. Except for a rare few, fighters make much more, net-net, under reebok. Probably 80-90% are better off now.http://www.mmamania.com/2007/07/09/ufc-73-fighter-paydays-and-salaries
http://www.mmamania.com/2015/2/2/79...ilva-scores-800k-nick-diaz-banks-half-million
Back in 2009 the lower paid guys were looking at $3k + $3k. Now it's more like $13k + 13K.
The real issue for the lower guys is the sponsorship money, because while they were only getting $3-6k from the UFC, they were getting a few times that extra from sponsors. Not they only get a slight bump in pay from Reebok if they're newer fighters.
Except for a rare few, fighters make much more, net-net, under reebok. Probably 80-90% are better off now.
Just like back in the day some are being paid relatively well while others are fighting for peanuts. In short not much has changed, there are more opportunities to get paid but it's up to the fighter to take advantage of them.
We live in corporate America. Workers will get paid just enough so they don't revolt and the owners will take most of the profits.
Bellator can't afford to give all of the UFC fighters a raise and they certainly are not going to give the 10/10 or 20/20 guys a raise. Bellator is good for the middle tier guys like Benson, Sterling, and Gil.
I wonder how money actually goes in fighters pocket now vs. ten years ago. More money from UFC but less from sponsors and more expensive training cost. Would be a good documentary for someone into that sort of thing to produce.
Well in general the average fighter is much much better taken care of. Back then a guy might only get $2k to fight, and maybe $3k-10k in sponsorship money.
And a mid-tier guy was maybe getting $20k back then, and might be getting $60k now.
When only comparing recent years in terms of pre and post Reebok (2014 vs 2016), there is more room for fighters to get the raw end of the deal. A guy that was getting say $50k + $50k (win money) + $20k sponsors, might now get the same UFC pay, but only $5k from Reebok, resulting in a significant pay cut. So if this guy wins, it's $120k vs $105. If he loses, it's $70k vs $55k, which is a huge difference. There have been a few very vocal guys talking about this, but it's hard to know, since there's possibly (and probably) a chunk of fighters that don't want to rock the boat by speaking out while under contract.
At the highest level the fighters are doing waaaaaaay better, no matter what the sponsors pay. Back then a fighter might pull in $250k for a fight, and some sponsorship cash too. Now, with a cut of the PPV sales, a big name can make a couple million in a fight. The very top tier fighters are making probably 5-10 times more money than the guys in 2006.