Light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader made headlines ahead of last week’s Bellator 180 event when he said he was making “at least three or four times” more in sponsorship earnings for his Bellator debut than he did under the UFC-Reebok deal.
Bader has been long a critic of the Reebok partnership — a deal that saw him earn just $15,000 for his 20th and final UFC fight last November — and Bader flatly dismissed the idea that the sponsorship well has dried up for fighters since Reebok entered the MMA space, reasoning that fighters and managers simply had to work harder to foster long-lasting relationships with worthwhile companies.