The Reebok deal...

     It seems as if from the second the UFC/Reebok sponsorship deal was set in motion it was a surrounded by controversy. Everyone had been asking the question as to whether the deal would actually be a legitimate benefit to the fighters as it had been promised. Well, the official pay scale for the deal has been released and many UFC fighters as well as members of the MMA community are not at all impressed or happy with its turn out. Just to shed some light on exactly why this is upsetting everyone so much here is an example of the lowest tier in the pay scale: Fighters that have five or less fights in the UFC will only be being paid $2,500 per fight.

     For professional athletes this number is absolutely absurd! To be paying fighters that little money based on their time in the organization rather than performance or a series of other more logical factors is cruel and unjust. Many that were affected by the release of this information took to social media to express their concern and disapproval of the new pay scale. UFC middleweight Roger Navarez took to twitter in a message that states “Wow 2500$ for my next fight for reebok sponsorship. ....i mad twice that off 1 sponsor my last fight!!!! Sucks!” For a fighter to have made twice that amount from only one of their sponsors and now be dropped down to such a low pay grade is wrong and as Navarez also states, this is going to be extremely hard on a lot of fighters.

     While this deal was undoubtedly designed to innovate and progress the way the
UFC operates it may end up back firing severely. It would not be a surprise to see many UFC fighters leaving the organization in favor of others such as World Series of Fighting or Bellator MMA as we have seen recently when UFC light heavyweight Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis left the UFC in favor of their competitor, Bellator MMA. The UFC must proceed with caution considering their present circumstances; and hopefully there will be more developments in the future that somehow make this situation better for all of the hard working athletes in the UFC that deserve proper compensation for their effort