UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta recently spoke with The Boston Herald about his growing frustration with the “very, very small minority” of fighters who aren’t complying with the new UFC/Reebok uniform and sponsorship policy.
As reported last week, UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos, as well as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Nate Diaz violated the policy. With these three being the aforementioned “very, very small minority,” Fertitta addressed the trio by offering the following analogy regarding kids who have to wear uniforms in school.
“I think it’s not fair for fighters not to comply with the outfitting policy,” Fertitta said to the Boston-based publication. “It’s a very, very small minority of athletes that haven’t complied so far. It’s like when you went to school, you know? Some people get detention for being out of uniform. It’s not that hard. Tuck your shirt in.”
Currently, UFC fighters are earning between $2,500 and $40,000 per fight off of the sponsorship money they receive from the Reebok deal, most of which is determined by the amount of fights you have had inside the UFC’s Octagon, or any other past company that Zuffa, the parent-company of UFC, now owns. Among them are the defunct WEC, Strikeforce and PRIDE promotions, just to name a few.
According to Fertitta, the UFC is paying out more than they are currently taking in from the Reebok outfitting deal.
“Heck yeah, man, when this thing grows and Reebok actually builds a sustainable business, fighters are going to get more money allocated to that,” said Fertitta.
“I think we’re going to look back in 10 years and look at some of these fights back from 2011, 2012, and go, ‘Wow, did the UFC really look like that?'”
