Financial terms of MMA contracts are never disclosed, but it’s assumed that, although Bellator is backed by Viacom’s billion-dollar bank account, the contracts that they offered these four free agents were likely far below what the UFC was able to promise. However, the not-so-fine print in Bellator’s agreements allows its athletes secure their own in-cage sponsors, which can help quickly close the gap.
As we all know by now, the UFC signed a highly controversial six-year, reported $70 million endorsement deal with Reebok in July that prohibits its fighters from wearing anything but Reebok during fight week.
Many UFC fighters were irate about being forced to exclusively don Reebok because, for some, it was taking tens of thousands of dollars out of their pockets.