While many fighters have voiced their displeasure with the new UFC/Reebok uniform deal, it has always been said that it will take some fighters on the UFC roster who carry weight for actual change to become a possibility. Whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen, however one particular Swedish fighter whose name carries some weight has apparently joined the team.
“Pay the fighters a lot more money. For all the hard work and the sacrifices fighters generally do to fight, I think they’re a little bit underpaid,” said Gustafsson to MMAJunkie.com. “The same thing with the Reebok deal, too. I don’t have anything negative to say about it. I just think, why take away from fighters who haven’t established themselves in the organization?”
Gustafsson continued, “They have a hard time already, so why take away the small sponsors so they can pay the rent and pay their bills? Why take that away too? Really squeezing that last money from the fighters that haven’t been established yet. I think it’s sad to see. I still think that the more support you can have from local sponsors, the more time you have to put in the gym and the more the sport will develop.”
In a perfect one-liner to summarize the top Swedish UFC stars’ thoughts, Gustafsson concluded by saying, “It’s just that this Reebok deal is not going to help the fighters.”
In the meantime, Gustafsson is back in preparation, as he returns to headline UFC 192 against Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight championship, Gustafsson’s second crack at the title after his razor thin decision loss to previous champion Jon Jones in his last title fight.
Co-headlined by Johny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodley and Rashad Evans vs. Ryan Bader, UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas airing live on pay-per-view.
