UFC’s Aljamain Sterling Sounds Off on UFC/Reebok Deal — ‘It’s A Freaking Joke’

Aljamain Sterling is one of UFC’s bright young prospects in the bantamweight division. Despite having an impressive undefeated record with wins over the likes of Takeya Mizugaki and Hugo Viana, the “Funk Master” will still only be earning $2,500 through the Reebok deal the next time he fights.

While some fighters seem to love the idea of the UFC/Reebok deal, the majority of newcomers and even some veterans are fixing to lose a LOT of sponsorship money. Sterling shared his thoughts on the topic on Sherdog’s forum:

The “Funk Master” sports an impressive undefeated record over the likes of Takeya Mizugaki and Hugo Viana, but he

“The deal can work, BUT MAJOR changes need to be made,” Sterling said. “Tenure is not an ideal way to do it, because up-comers like myself Iaquinta, Felder, Elias, D. Ortiz, Almeida, Dariush, will get the shortest end of the stick. We’re becoming a more a familiar face but what do we get? An ‘Cool bro. Welcome to the Top 10/15. With becoming a hot commodity, you’ll earn a kick-ass $2,500/$5,000!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!’” He continued, “LOL its a freaking joke. I love how organized and how smooth the UFC is ran, but geeze man, this is just bad. I gotta try to fight more, which isn’t the worst IMO, just so I can make $2,500 more?? I feel like a big winner being ranked 6-8th in the world.”

While it sounds like he is in completely against the idea, Sterling briefly mentioned he agreed with UFC President Dana White about the inspiration behind the deal. “I agree with Dana and what he says about all other major sports league having a unified outfit/look and not being able to have other companies on their uniform,” Sterling wrote.

“My issue to counter that statement is: We are independent contractors. MMA is not a team sport on the grand scheme of things. So things are very different for us. We don’t have a union/association to speak on our behalf, we don’t have a salary pay for the year to live comfortably. We fight. We get paid. There is no in-between, no sitting out of the ‘game’ and still collecting a paycheck, so again, our sport is very different.”

How do you feel about Aljamain Sterling’s thoughts on the matter? Are fighters overreacting? Do they have a right to talk against the UFC/Reebok deal? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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