Johnson: We don’t know how good Reebok deal is yet
Demetrious Johnson: “We won’t know how good the deal is until we see the actual fine print. I think for Reebok, it’s a hell of a deal…”
UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has one of the biggest sponsorships in MMA, representing Microsoft’s X-Box exclusively in every fight. Johnson recently spoke on how he felt the deal would effect him personally and what he expects from it going forward:
I think it’s a good thing to where people don’t have to run out and struggle to find sponsorships and all that stuff, Johnson said. But at the end of the day, I just don’t want people to be stripped of what they can bring in. That’s my biggest thing about it. If a person is getting paid $80,000 for something and they’re told they can’t wear it anymore and they’re losing that money, then something needs to happen about that.
For now Johnson said his relationship with Xbox still stands. The fight-week/fight-night component will end in July, but if the Reebok deal proves beneficial to the sport as a whole, Johnson said he’s happy to make the sacrifice.
The whole thing with the Reebok deal is (UFC President) Dana White and (chairman and CEO) Lorenzo Fertitta care about making things right, Johnson said. If they say this deal is going to benefit the fighters, then fantastic. It’s a six-year long deal. That’s a big deal, so hopefully it works out.
We won’t know how good the deal is until we see the actual fine print. I think for Reebok, it’s a hell of a deal because I know what Microsoft and Xbox spend for a 20-second spot on FOX, and it’s a ridiculous amount of money, so we’ll see what happens.