Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the hurt business last Saturday (Dec. 8, 2018) with UFC 231, which went down inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, airing live on pay-per-view (PPV). Now, it’s time to see who went home with the biggest piece of the Reebok sponsorship pie.
Taking home the biggest bucks were Featherweight champion Max Holloway and Brian Ortega, bankING $40,000 and $30,000, respectively, after their four-round headlining war (see it again here). Also, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Valentina Shevchenko scored $30,000 each for their Straweeight title fight (highlights). Thiago Santos took home $15,000 from the sports apparel outfitter after knocking out Jimi Manuwa ($10,000) in a thrilling Light Heavyweight brawl.
But, that’s not all! Take a look at the entire Reebok payouts (courtesy of MMA Junkie):
Max Holloway: $40,000 def. Brian Ortega: $30,000
Valentina Shevchenko: $30,000 def. Joanna Jedrzejczyk: $30,000
Gunnar Nelson: $10,000 def. Alex Oliveira: $10,000
Hakeem Dawodu: $3,500 def. Kyle Bochniak: $5,000
Thiago “Marreta” Santos: $15,000 def. Jimi Manuwa: $10,000
Nina Ansaroff: $5,000 def. Claudia Gadelha: $5,000
Gilbert Burns: $5,000 def. Olivier Aubin-Mercier: $10,000
Jessica Eye: $5,000 def. Katlyn Chookagian: $5,000
Elias Theodorou: $5,000 def. Eryk Anders: $5,000
Brad Katona: $3,500 def. Matthew Lopez: $5,000
Dhiego Lima: $5,000 def. Chad Laprise: $5,000
Diego Ferreira: $5,000 def. Kyle Nelson: $3,500
Aleksandar Rakic: $3,500 def. Devin Clark: $5,000
TOTAL: $264,000
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 ZUFFA banner … 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.