Donald Cerrone says he stands to lose $60K per fight with new Reebok deal

By Ryan McKinnell 11 hours ago Cagewriter

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LAS VEGAS - Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone meets John Makdessi on Saturday in a lightweight feature bout at UFC 187 at the MGM Grand. If Cerrone wins, it would mark his eighth consecutive victory and will all but assure him a lightweight title shot against Rafael dos Anjos.
Saturday will also mark Cowboy's 28th fight for ZUFFA – the parent company that owns the UFC and Cerrone's prior employer, the WEC – and under the recently leaked details involving the exclusive Reebok/UFC apparel sponsorship, Cerrone is set to make $20,000 each time he steps in the cage.
The system is based on a tier structure that pays an athlete on their championship standing and total number of fights. Payouts vary anywhere from $2,500 - $40,000. The fighter will wear a Reebok uniform inside the cage, along with one UFC-mandated sponsor to accompany it.

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'Cowboy' Cerrone gets his arm raised after a win. (Getty)

The Reebok deal will officially go into effect at UFC 189 in July and will mean the end of multiple, fringe sponsors clogging up a fighter's shorts with countless ads.
Those fringe sponsors, however, paid very well by some accounts. And the Reebok-UFC partnership has come under scrutiny in the past few months due in large part to the fact that critics think the deal will negatively affect a fighter's ability to earn a living. Just last week UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub said he would be taking a massive pay cut due to his limited sponsorship, and others voiced similar concerns.
Unfortunately for Donald Cerrone, he is not a champion. He is, however, one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster. But even with his star power and marketability, Cerrone is set to take a hefty pay cut when the Reebok deal goes into effect – at least on a fight-by-fight basis, anyway.
"Per fight, yeah, I'm going to take a little bit of a cut, sure," Cerrone admitted Monday. "I think my pay grade with the Reebok deal is, $20,000, or $22,000. So, comfortably, [I'm] saying that I'm going to be losing $60,000 a fight probably."
Cerrone, fortunately, has deals with UFC-affiliated sponsors Fram & Budweiser. Both companies are event sponsors for the UFC and will be one of the select companies that will be featured along with Reebok on a fighter's uniform. Those exclusive deals should help Cerrone recoup some of his losses, but he is admittedly one of the lucky ones.