Joe Lauzon’s next few trips to the film room may not exactly be enthralling. Lauzon is set to battle Stevie Ray inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The bout will be held on April 22 and is going to be part of the UFC Fight Night 108 card. “J-Lau” took a split decision victory […]
Joe Lauzon’s next few trips to the film room may not exactly be enthralling. Lauzon is set to battle Stevie Ray inside the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The bout will be held on April 22 and is going to be part of the UFC Fight Night 108 card. “J-Lau” took a split decision victory […]
The mandatory Reebok sponsorship salaries for UFC fighters continues to look bad on paper, as the fighter who lost in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 99 event took home twice as much as the next largest earner, as he earned double what …
The mandatory Reebok sponsorship salaries for UFC fighters continues to look bad on paper, as the fighter who lost in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 99 event took home twice as much as the next largest earner, as he earned double what both Gegard Mousasi and Urijah Hall, the two headliners of the event, were paid.
The Reebok system is set up in a way that compensates veterans of the promotion the greatest, regardless of almost any factors such as rankings or the actual performance they put on inside the Octagon, but instead rewarding them for their longevity in the sport and the top level.
A good example of the system and how it may seem fair at a glance when no specific fighters or dollar amounts are attached, but completely out-of-whack when those factors are added to the mix, is the UFC Fight Night 99 event from Belfast, Northern Ireland from Saturday afternoon.
As seen in the figures below, which come courtesy of MMAJunkie.com, Ross Pearson took home $20,000 in sponsorship money from Reebok in a losing effort, as he was defeated by Stevie Ray in the co-main event. Meanwhile, event headliners Gegard Mousasi and Urijah Hall both earned the same amount from the Reebok sponsorship deal, as the two pocketed $10,000, exactly half of what Pearson earned, despite a number of factors.
Featured below are the UFC Fight Night 99 Reebok sponsorship salaries for all of the fighters who competed on the card that aired live on UFC Fight Pass from the SSE Arena.
UFC Fight Night 99: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 Reebok Salaries
Gegard Mousasi: $10,000 def. Uriah Hall: $10,000
Stevie Ray: $2,500 def. Ross Pearson: $20,000
Alexander Volkov: $2,500 def. Timothy Johnson: $2,500
Artem Lobov: $2,500 def. Teruto Ishihara: $2,500
Jack Marshman: $2,500 def. Magnus Cedenblad: $5,000
Kyoji Horiguchi: $5,000 def. Ali Bagautinov: $5,000
Kevin Lee: $5,000 def. Magomed Mustafaev: $2,500
Amanda Cooper: $2,500 def. Anna Elmose: $2,500
Justin Ledet: $2,500 def. Mark Godbeer: $2,500
Zak Cummings: $5,000 def. Alexander Yakovlev: $5,000
Marion Reneau: $2,500 def. Milana Dudieva: $2,500
Brett Johns: $2,500 def. Kwan Ho Kwak: $2,500
Abdul Razak Alhassan: $2,500 def. Charlie Ward: $2,500
England vs. Scotland here in Belfast now, as lightweights Ross Pearson and Stevie Ray go at it. ‘Braveheart’ enters the octagon with the bag pipes playing loud. ‘Real Deal’ looks ready to continue his busy year. The crowds are behind both men. Round 1. Pearson moving well, typically tight guard and fast hands, Stevie throwing kicks
England vs. Scotland here in Belfast now, as lightweights Ross Pearson and Stevie Ray go at it. ‘Braveheart’ enters the octagon with the bag pipes playing loud. ‘Real Deal’ looks ready to continue his busy year. The crowds are behind both men.
Round 1. Pearson moving well, typically tight guard and fast hands, Stevie throwing kicks early here. Low kick connects flush for Ray, Pearson stalking. Yet to connect flush to the head for either man at the moment, the crowd is hyping up with the viking chants. Pearson taunting, low kick again by Ray, massive head kick clips Pearson. Ray connecting nicely now, Pearson yet to find his groove. Ross eats a head kick or two, lands a nice punch-low kick combo. Switch head kick by Ray answered by a body kick. This is a lively fight now, nasty body kick brings up a red mark on Ray’s gut. Stevie shoots and scoops Pearson up, runs the octagon and slams the Englishman. Pearson stands as the round ends. Tough round to score, I’d say Ray edges a 10-9.
Round 2. Pearson marching his man down again, Ray lands a lovely straight left, and a head kick now. I sense a finish in the making here, Ray with a wild spinning head kick that misses, and the low kicks again. Ray shoots for the takedown, Pearson with the wizard, stays up. They break and Ray uncorks a solid head kick, oblique kick now, and Pearson fluffs the counter. Low kicks again by Ray, and Pearson answers with the same, ‘Braveheart’ keeping a nice range tonight. Pearson becoming frustrated by Ray’s distance, they trade wild punches, body kicks land. Ray lands a noisy head kick on Pearson, great chins on display! Left hands exchanged, round ends. Another close one, 10-9 Ray at a push.
Round 3. Pearson needs to mix his body and head attacks to get a finish here, Ray can stick with his great work so far. Nice show of respect as they high ten, Pearson eats a few kicks early in this round, nice left hook head right hook body combo by the Englishman. HUGE low kick by Pearson reverberates around the arena. Pearson moving nicely now, avoiding punches, big right hand to the body by Ross now. Ray is landing to the body but Pearson catches the kick and wings a knee. Right to the body, but Pearson needs to go to the head afterwards or it’s just not gonna happen. Ray with a head kick, low kick now, Pearson with a single shot to the body again. One minute left, Pearson misses a punch but lands a head kick. Round ends, maybe 10-9 Pearson, but it’s 2-1 for Ray in my opinion.
30-27 Pearson, 30-27 Ray, 30-27 Ray. Who the heck is that first judge? Ray wins by split decision.
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Aljamain Sterling and Stevie Ray will all host a live Q&A for fans ahead of UFC Fight Night 89 weigh-ins later today, and MMA News will provide you a live stream.
The event is set to begin at 3:30 …
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, Aljamain Sterling and Stevie Ray will all host a live Q&A for fans ahead of UFC Fight Night 89 weigh-ins later today, and MMA News will provide you a live stream.
The event is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET from the TD Place Arena.
