May 29, 2015 by Marc Weeks
A brief history lesson: When the UFC began, sponsorship for fighters was a pipe dream and as the sport grew, this changed. Sponsors began to place their brands on fighter’s shorts and fighters collected money in return. Since the sport was new and pay for fighters was low, the UFC allowed almost any kind of sponsor* in order to make sure fighters were making money. Again, as the sport grew this changed and the UFC became a ‘middle man’, taxing sponsors for the privilege of sponsoring the fighters.