Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the hurt business last Saturday night (Feb. 24, 2018) for UFC on FOX 28, which took place inside Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, and now it’s time to see who walked away with the biggest piece of the Reebok sponsorship pie.
Longtime Octagon veteran Jeremy Stephens pulled away with the biggest sponsorship check, taking home $20,000 thanks to his 28th fight inside the eight-sided cage. “Lil Heathen” was also the biggest winner of the night after knocking out Josh Emmett in the headlining act (see it); though there was plenty of controversy surrounding the finish.
For his troubles, Emmett took home $5,000 from the sports apparel giant.
Ovince St-Preux and Rani Yahya were the next highest earners, walking away with $15,000 a piece in sponsorship cash. But that’s not all, so let’s take a look at the rest of the Reebok payouts courtesy of MMA Junkie.
Jeremy Stephens: $20,000 def. Josh Emmett: $5,000
Jessica Andrade: $10,000 def. Tecia Torres: $5,000
Ilir Latifi: $5,000 def. Ovince Saint Preux: $15,000
Max Griffin: $5,000 def. Mike Perry: $5,000
Brian Kelleher: $5,000 def. Renan Barao: $10,000
Marion Reneau: $5,000 def. Sara McMann: $5,000
Angela Hill: $5,000 def. Maryna Moroz: $5,000
Alan Jouban: $10,000 def. Ben Saunders: $10,000
Sam Alvey: $10,000 def. Marcin Prachnio: $3,500
Rani Yahya: $15,000 def. Russell Doane: $5,000
Alex Perez: $3,500 def. Eric Shelton: $5,000
Manny Bermudez: $3,500 def. Albert Morales $5,000
TOTAL: $175, 500
According to the payout structure (see it), the more fights you have combined with UFC and the now-defunct World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Strikeforce promotions, the more coin you have for your combat sports piggy bank.
And the less fights you have under the ZUFFA banner… well, the less you get. 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 20-30 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.