UFC 238 went down last Saturday night (June 8, 2019) inside United Center in Chicago, Ill., which means its time to see who went home with the biggest piece of the Reebok sponsorship pie. Leading the way was Henry Cejudo, who scored the traditional $40,000 handed out to the champions headlining an event. “The Messenger” defeated Marlon Moraes in the headlining bout to claim the vacant Bantamweight title, becoming UFC’s latest “champ-champ” (highlights) in the process.
As for “Magic,” he earned $30,000 from the sports apparel outfitter. Also getting a $40,000 check from Reebok was Valentina Shevchenko, who defended her women’s Flyweight belt against Jessica Eye, knocking her out with a vicious head kick in the second round (recap here). As challenger, “Evil” banked $30,000.
But, that’s not all! Take a look at the entire UFC 238 Reebok payouts (courtesy of MMA Junkie).
Henry Cejudo: $40,000 def. Marlon Moraes: $30,000
Valentina Shevchenko: $40,000 def. Jessica Eye: $30,000
Tony Ferguson: $15,000 def. Donald Cerrone: $20,000
Petr Yan: $4,000 def. Jimmie Rivera: $5,000
Blagoy Ivanov: $3,500 def. Tai Tuivasa: $4,000
Tatiana Suarez: $4,000 def. Nina Ansaroff: $5,000
Aljamain Sterling: $10,000 def. Pedro Munhoz: $10,000
Alexa Grasso: $4,000 def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz: $5,000
Calvin Kattar: $4,000 def. Ricardo Lamas: $20,000
Yan Xiaonan: $4,000 def. Angela Hill: $10,000
Darren Stewart: $5,000 def. Bevon Lewis: $3,500
Eddie Wineland: $15,000 def. Grigorii Popov: $3,500
Katlyn Chookagian: $5,000 def. Joanne Calderwood: $5,000
TOTAL: $304,500
According to the payout structure (see it), the more fights a fighter has accumulated — combined with UFC and the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Strikeforce promotions — the more coin he or she gets to fill his or her combat sports piggy bank. And the less fights a fighter has under the Endeavor umbrella … well, the less he or she gets.
If you have a problem with the structure, take it up with UFC … not Reebok.
According to the report, fighters will also receive royalty and payments up to 20 to 30 percent of any UFC-related merchandise sold that bears his or her likeness. That’s a great way for the Internet “morons” to help the cause.
For complete UFC 238: “Cejudo vs Moraes” results and coverage click here.