Matt Riddle and the cost of training...

[jonathan274]

Impossible he spent that much on weed...

Depends on the type of friends you keep.

 

[dredd57]

$6000 on nutrition? For a camp? Horsemeat that expensive in teh us?

That's $8400 if he wins. LOL, I shook my head at that too. Means if he fights and wins 3 times in one year, he's spending over $25,000 on food, supplements, and a dietician.

 

[Sakurabas Ear]

This right here. Look at how many NFL and NBA athletes go broke when they're done playing.

Problem is some of these guys aren't done, they're still fighting.

 

[SinCity0811]

the moral of the story is don't do drugs. Even weed can ruin your life. Kid had a good thing going and he preferred getting high. If he would have held out just a couple more months for the increase in weed in your system he would have probably been good still.

 

[dredd57]

So the fighters that are bitching about taxes after spending on training costs essentially receive a large portion of that money back anyway. Hmmm.

Actually I think the cost is just tax-deductible. Doesn't mean you get it back. Basically, if you made $100,000 of taxable income, and showed you had business expenses of $30,000 that you can write off, you owe taxes on $70,000 worth of income instead of $100k, and if you already paid taxes, you get the taxes you paid on that $30k back.

I imagine most fighters don't withhold like that though, so there isn't any real refund, just a lower tax bill when it comes due.

 

[dredd57]

the moral of the story is don't do drugs. Even weed can ruin your life. Kid had a good thing going and he preferred getting high. If he would have held out just a couple more months for the increase in weed in your system he would have probably been good still.

It was either ruin his life, or ruin his marriage. Riddle said he smoked so he didn't beat his wife. lol

 

[brackis1]

as others said, there are no "standard" fees per se. it depends on who you are and where you train and with whom.

at your level, i would say tim kennedy gave some infos on how much it cost him:



so almost 60% BEFORE tax. you dont need to be an einstein to understand, you want world class training, you need world class money. the ufc doesnt pay that unless you wearing a belt.

just recently chris weidman made news. basically danaher was saying that chris was bankrupt, lending money to stay solvent just to prepare for anderson silva.
just to remind you, chris weidman was 9 - 0 at that time, 5 - 0 in the ufc. one would think at that level, being number 1 contender at 185 lbs will make you have some money for the future. obviously not the case.

fact of the matter is, and thats why so many FIGHT FANS are pissed off, ufc makes, according to rumors / estimated, over 500 million us dollar per year (some say over 600, but i think the ufc denied that one... not that ufc denying over 600 makes it not true, we just dont know), and only pays the champs good money (if at all).

pathetic, greedy ufc.

Damn, this rapidly turned into a whining session about fighter pay.

Lets be honest here about the training, who really thinks Matt Riddle is dropping $50K for a training camp? He's nowhere near top of the market, hell, he was barely able to get off the prelims. I'd be willing to bet his training, all in, was probably somewhere in the 20-25% of his purse... mind you, purse, not all-in net pay.

You're "willing to bet"? Great argument.
You seem upset that people are coming to a logical conclusion about why fighter pay is so messed up, but just want to call it "whining".

 

[ChangeIsComing]

Didn't he make 167k last year?

How on earth he couldn't pay bills and training?

Forget about Matt Riddle for a moment and imagine the fighter making 15k to show and not receiving any disclosed bonuses, If the fighter loses two fights and ufc cant give the person a third within that year they will make 45k, about the same as an uneducated customer service clerk working in a call centre.....

Not to mention the cost of training etc, I am sure they get a bit of a bump in sponsors, but most of the non main event fighters are probably better off working in factory pushing a button if money was the main point of life, but these guys love the job, love the sport and most are happy.

It is a shame that pay all across the world is low and only the top tier guys really live lavishly....I think what annoys me the mosts is the lifestyle of the UFC brass...hell even bruce buffer makes more than probably 80% of the UFC roster and they all live in the upper class division on humanity.

I thinks its time they started to spread the wealth more.

 

[brackis1]

When you get to be a well enough name, your sponsor money covers your training costs. Normally though, an agreement is worked out because your trainers more often than not will be your corner men, so they get a percentage of your purse, or a set amount of money for their services.

People who are big enough names however, have their training paid for by their sponsors because their sponsors have a vested interest in their viability. So I doubt fighters like Jon Jones, GSP, Anderson Silva, Rashad Evans, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, etc... have not had to pay out of pocket for training for a good while.

That being said, MMA is not a sport you can afford to be "poor" in. While there are teams that focus on the entirety of the sport in an "MMA style" so to speak, a lot of fighters still have multiple trainers that train them in multiple disciplines. Boxing coaches, Strength & Conditioning coaches, wrestling coaches, jiujitsu coaches, etc... GSP is a prime example of this. Even though he primarily trains out of Tri-star, that is mainly for his Karate. He still employs different coaches for different aspects of his style. Boxing, Jiujitsu, Wrestling, and even going to Jackson's for strategy/gameplanning.

Just like in boxing, in MMA, until you reach a point in your career where you have a decent amount of CONSISTENT success to where you're constantly moving up and earning money, very few people do it as their sole means of income. A lot of boxers, kickboxers, and MMA fighters have "regular jobs". Only a handful in each of those fields do combat sports as their sole means of income and make a very good - great living off it.

People think just because you're in the top MMA promotion, you should be making big money. That's a common misconception. Hell, in the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, you start at the bottom and have to earn those big dollars. In the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA, the "bottom" is high school sports where you literally play for nothing. Then in some cases like the NHL and MLB, it's the minor leagues if you're good enough to get drafted by a team straight out of high school where you make a minimum salary. In the case of the NBA and NFL, it's college sports, where you get a small "per diem" for playing. Then if you're good enough on those levels, it's to the pros. In the NHL and MLB, it means playing 3 years under a rookie contract, which on paper may seem like a lot of money, but after taxes, it really isn't. In the NFL and NBA, its dependent on where you are drafted, if you are drafted in a high round, you get the big money off the top cause you're considered an essential part of the team's plans going forward. A top prospect. If you're drafted in the later rounds, you have to earn your way to the big money.

So no matter what sport you play in professional, there's always a ladder/pyramid type situation where you have to earn your way to the top and the big money.

And yet we have a guy with 10 UFC fights who starred on their reality show having to retire because he is broke from fighting. Definitely supports your explanation :icon_neut.

 

[CarloSpcyWeiner]

Actually I think the cost is just tax-deductible. Doesn't mean you get it back. Basically, if you made $100,000 of taxable income, and showed you had business expenses of $30,000 that you can write off, you owe taxes on $70,000 worth of income instead of $100k, and if you already paid taxes, you get the taxes you paid on that $30k back.

I imagine most fighters don't withhold like that though, so there isn't any real refund, just a lower tax bill when it comes due.

Ahhh, I got it. With my low ass income I was thinking tax returns.

 

[hto63]

Didn't he make 167k last year?

How on earth he couldn't pay bills and training?

Probably because he needs money for keeping his family and himself alive during that year as well?
And the clock is ticking too as a fighter, you don't want to start every year at 0. It's not a job that is going to get you those 167k every year until you retire. Ok it does actually, only you will retire before you turn 40.

 

[Green Poncho]

Aside from varying fighter by fighter, it would probably change fight by fight also depending on how many people they bring in or if they travel a lot as some fighters don't stick to one camp.

In terms of figures, Mendes said some of his partially completed camps cost around $6-10k
http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/...-says-canceled-fights-cost-up-to-10k-per-camp


http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/6/27/4470436/tim-kennedy-rips-ufc-fighter-pay


From his breakdown, excluding the money paid to his manager and medicals, 46% of his pay is spent on training.

So Mendes spends $10k and Kennedy $50k+?

Kennedy is getting raped by his camp.

 

[CarloSpcyWeiner]

Forget about Matt Riddle for a moment and imagine the fighter making 15k to show and not receiving any disclosed bonuses, If the fighter loses two fights and ufc cant give the person a third within that year they will make 45k, about the same as an uneducated customer service clerk working in a call centre.....

Not to mention the cost of training etc, I am sure they get a bit of a bump in sponsors, but most of the non main event fighters are probably better off working in factory pushing a button if money was the main point of life, but these guys love the job, love the sport and most are happy.

It is a shame that pay all across the world is low and only the top tier guys really live lavishly....I think what annoys me the mosts is the lifestyle of the UFC brass...hell even bruce buffer makes more than probably 80% of the UFC roster and they all live in the upper class division on humanity.

I thinks its time they started to spread the wealth more.

Red: This discussion is about Matt Riddle.

Blue: As with any industry, the talented, the most intelligent, and the best at what they do are the ones who reap the highest rewards. If you're not good, you won't live like a king. It's simple.

Yellow: THEY EARNED IT. These are the guys that build the UFC into what it is, and without them, these fighters wouldn't have the opportunity to make a career out of the sport they love.

Green: Want to spread the wealth? Take your ass to eastern Europe or China.

 

[Red Eyed Buddha]

That was last year though, after taxes, rent/mortgage, food, gas, electricity, car payments, gym fees, trainer fees, medical bills/health insurance, etc and now the fact that he's hurt and wasnt going to get to fight until next year it makes perfect sense to me how he couldn't afford to sit out that long. It's expensive to be a fighter who trains at the highest level, you don't have to be an accountant to figure that out.

It's also expensive to keep getting fined and losing win bonuses.
I think most gyms over charge, and most fighters (like Riddle) over pay.
You don't have to train at some big name gym, or train crazy like GSP.
Know how much money you make and be honest about the work you're getting done.

 

[Red Eyed Buddha]

Red: This discussion is about Matt Riddle.

Blue: As with any industry, the talented, the most intelligent, and the best at what they do are the ones who reap the highest rewards. If you're not good, you won't live like a king. It's simple.

Yellow: THEY EARNED IT. These are the guys that build the UFC into what it is, and without them, these fighters wouldn't have the opportunity to make a career out of the sport they love.

Green: Want to spread the wealth? Take your ass to eastern Europe or China.

Basically^
Well said my friend.

 

[fight4ippon]

Me too. I really have no clue when it comes to this type of thing

I'm sure it is very expensive a good deal training at a martial arts gym with bjj/ boxing/muay thai is 150 $ a month around me. I could only imagine what the cost of having world class guys working day after day with you in a private/ semi private setting would cost.

 

[CarloSpcyWeiner]

Basically^
Well said my friend.

Thanks

 

[Dman4Life8017]

And yet we have a guy with 10 UFC fights who starred on their reality show having to retire because he is broke from fighting. Definitely supports your explanation :icon_neut.

To me, Matt Riddle and guys like him are the ones who are feeling themselves entirely too much, and do not want to put the time and effort into mastering their craft. As someone said earlier in this thread people see the words "Professional athlete", and assume they should be making huge amounts of money.

All the words "Professional Athlete" means, is that you are being paid to do what you do. It doesn't mean you get paid well to do it, it just means you are obligated to be paid for your services because you've signed a contract at some point to render those services to whatever organization, team, etc... It's up to YOU to show whomever is writing the checks that you're worth more money.

 

[NastyStriking]

What about Dana's "backdoor bonuses"?

 

[Cam Zink]

What about Dana's "backdoor bonuses"?

Lol.