Chael Sonnen explains why UFC fighters are wrong to complain about sponsor law

Chael Sonnen has given his thoughts on fighters complaining about the way in which sponsors are handled in the UFC.

Ever since Reebok came through the door and introduced uniforms for fighters to wear, there’s been a lot of controversy regarding how much money the fighters are getting paid as part of the deal – especially in comparison to what they were able to make when they had fight sponsors of their own.

Chael Sonnen, who spent his career outside of the ‘uniform’ era that the UFC is currently in, had a few thoughts on the matter in a new video uploaded to his channel.

“There is an underhandedness felt by the athletes as it pertains to the way sponsorships work out. They’re feeling that they’re being mistreated,” Sonnen said. “Nobody would feel that way if it wasn’t for the generosity shown in this sport. Listen, at one point, the UFC allowed athletes to go get their own sponsors. ‘We’re gonna set the cameras up, we’re gonna pop the popcorn, we’re gonna get all the eyeballs. You can have the money, as long as you find it.’ That got a little out of hand.

“If there’s anything that looked bad to the cameras, it was the fact that we weren’t uniform… Big brand called Reebok (came in). So, the generosity that never should have been given — nobody in the history of television and production has ever been given the ability (where) somebody else pays for everything and you get to keep the sponsorships,” Sonnen added. “That has simply never happened and will not happen again.”

“A lot of fighters didn’t understand. So, when the generosity they never should have been — never should have happened. We never should have been to put anybody we want when (UFC) is paying for the cameras. When that went away, what fighters didn’t understand is that was unique to our industry. It was a generosity and kindness… they feel as though a rug has been pulled out.”

“I want to make sure you understand. Fighters being able to keep sponsorship money for that part of the industry… has never happened, and we never should have been able to do that. It truly was a mistake, generosity to the point of a mistake ’cause fighters think it was taken away and it was underhanded. They’re wrong. They’re just flat-wrong. That’s not the way it works,” Sonnen said.

Quotes via MMA News

Do you agree with Chael Sonnen on sponsors in the UFC?