Guillard: Reebook ‘a slap in the face’ to veterans
Melvin Guillard: “If I was still in the UFC, I know I wouldn’t be paying my agent no 15- or 20-percent for marketing because there’s no point now.”
Melvin Guillard spent most of his career inside the UFC Octagon and after a quick stint with WSOF, now finds himself fighting for Bellator MMA.
Guillard recently spoke to MMA Fighting about his transition into Bellator MMA and also about the UFC’s new deal with Reebok, which he believes is a complete ‘slap in the face’ to long-time veterans:
If Guillard was fighting in the UFC on Friday night, he would earn $20,000 from Reebok for his extensive Octagon experience. That number is eight times larger than the $2,500 starting figure which is handed out to UFC newbies, but is one that Guillard says still pales in comparison to the $50,000 or $60,000 per fight he claims was commonplace for him around 2008-2009, before the UFC instituted its sponsor tax.
With those numbers in mind, Guillard likened the new Reebok figures to “a slap in the face” for his veteran teammates.
“Guys aren’t happy with how things are going as far as the Reebok deal, obviously,” Guillard said. “Guys are losing money with sponsorships because they can’t make any money with sponsors. I never ever understood when I was with the UFC and they started charging companies to be in the UFC. That’s when everything started affecting our money. I never understood that, but I was always optimistic to think that maybe they would pay us more money on the back-end because we were losing money on this end, but it never happened. So I don’t know what the motive for what they’re doing is.
“If I was still in the UFC, I know I wouldn’t be paying my agent no 15- or 20-percent for marketing because there’s no point now,” Guillard added. “You might as well just pay them for lining up your fight.”
