An increasing number of fighters are having financial issues with getting their cornermen to their fights in far off places.
One thing that flies under the radar a bit when it comes to fighting in the UFC is the travel costs that fighters might have to eat themselves. With the promotion branching out to far-flung locations in the world, it’s becoming increasingly expensive for fighters to get all their cornermen to their fights. The UFC will cover the plane tickets for two people, but a lot of guys use more cornermen than that.
Such is the plight of UFC heavyweight Timothy Johnson.
The six-time UFC vet will be fighting in Brazil on February 3rd against Luis Henrique. He turned to Facebook to explain his situation about needing money to fly two more cornermen to Belem for the bout, and set up a GoFundMe for it:
Everyone knows I’m a Last minute guy, but I had a couple sponors not contribute this time around and am stuck between a…
Posted by Timothy Johnson on Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Here’s what Johnson had to say on the GoFundMe page itself:
“As many know the UFC has me traveling around the world for fights. What most people don’t know is they only pay for 2 tickets. Sponsorship money is tight and had a few not contribute to this trip. So I’m asking for your help in the last minute ditch effort to help get my other two coaches to Brazil for my fight, as this will be going towards their flights. Any extra will be donated to wounded warriors or a similar donation. Thanks for your time and support.”
That is the fourth time in his seven scheduled bouts that Johnson (11-4, 3-3 UFC) has been assigned to compete outside of North America. He previously fought in England, Ireland, and Croatia.
Johnson is not the first fighter to try this. Last year, UFC lightweight Paul Felder was in a similar circumstance and set up his own GoFundMe page to get his team to Brazil for a fight. He ended up raising $2900, falling well short of his $7500 goal.