UFC on FOX 21 Reebok Pay: 3 get $20,000

Historically, one of the bonuses of being in the UFC was that the platform drove so many eyes to a fighter, that companies would pay for a spot on the fighter’s apparel and banner, much like shoes companies do in the NBA, or every company does in NASCAR. At its height, apparel sponsors could equal or even exceed contracted pay.

Some sponsors, like rival MMA promotions and pornographers were long prohibited from participating. The market got tighter in time, and with the advent of the FOX deal, further sponsors were banned including guns and ammunition companies. There were some well-publicized failures to pay, and then the UFC instituted a sponsor tax, where sponsors had to first pay the UFC a fixed amount of $50,000 or more, before they could sponsor a fighter.

And then the league instituted the UFC Athlete Outfitting policy, in which fighters are compensated for wearing Reebok apparel in the Octagon, and during fight week.

The income is based on ZUFFA-era tenure in the UFC, or top tier promotions ZUFFA has acquired like Strikeforce and WEC:
1-5 bouts gets $2,500
6-10 bouts gets $5,000
11-15 bouts gets $10,000
16-20 bouts gets $15,000
21 bouts + gets $20,000
Champions earn $40,000 while title challengers get $30,000

“Reebok pay” has not proved to be wildly popular with fighters, some of whom cited significant losses of money. In fairness, some fighters have moved to Bellator MMA specifically noting Reebok pay as a reason to leave, but none appear to have reached their UFC-level sponsorships. Reebok has also not proved to be popular with the hardcore fanbase, who sympathize with the fighters, were baffled by the Zoolander-like launch of the line, don’t appreciate the seemingly Uno card inspired designs, and find that the level of understanding the company has for mixed martial arts can be summed up in the word Giblert.

Never the less, this is the way it is. In time, presumably, the designs will improve (and stop falling off female fighters), compensation will go up, and Reebok will come to understand mixed martial arts. In the mean time …

UFC on FOX 21 UFC Athlete Outfitting payouts:

Demian Maia: $20,000
beat Carlos Condit: $15,000

Anthony Pettis: $15,000
beat Charles Oliveira: $15,000

Paige VanZant: $2,500
beat Bec Rawlings: $2,500

Jim Miller: $20,000
beat Joe Lauzon: $20,000

Sam Alvey: $5,000
beat Kevin Casey: $5,000

Kyle Bochniak: $2,500
beat Enrique Barzola: $2,500

Alessio Di Chirico: $2,500
beat Garreth McLellan: $2,500

Felipe Silva: $2,500
beat Shane Campbell: $2,500

Chad Laprise: $5,000
beat Thibault Gouti: $2,500

Jeremy Kennedy: $2,500
beat Alessandro Ricci: $2,500

Reebok pay serves as a rough measure of a card’s depth. If the typical 12 fight card had all new UFC fighters, the payout would be $60,000. If it was all title fights, albeit a statistical impossibility, the payout would be $840,000.

By this measure, UFC on FOX 21, which was terrific and free, stacked up well against the previous UFC on FOX events conducted under theUFC Athlete Outfitting policy:
UFC on FOX 21: Maia vs. Condit – $147,500
UFC on FOX 20: Holm vs. Shevchenko – $92,500
UFC on FOX 19: Teixeira vs. Evans – $120,000
UFC on FOX 18: Johnson vs. Bader – $137,500

However, it naturally did not reach the levels of a PPV event:
UFC 202: Diaz vs. McGregor 2 – $207,500
UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley – $205,000
UFC 200: Tate vs. Nunes – $350,000
UFC 199: Rockhold vs. Bisping 2 – $297,500
UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic – $240,000
UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux – $222,500
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz – $220,000
UFC 195: Lawler vs. Condit – $172,500

Still, it was a great night of fights, from start to finish.

Source: MMAjunkie