Breaking down the numbers for a fight
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All the fighters, at least at the top level train at popular gyms. A training camp costs the fighters anywhere between $6,000 to $12,000 and with the fighters living nearby their gyms, it costs additional $5,000 - $10,000 (at least) for 2 months of bills, supplements, training gear etc.
A fighter spends nearly $20,000 even before the fight week to get ready for his fight.
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With the UFC fighters being independent contractors, they pay for their pre-fight medical tests, which once again burns a hole in their pocket.
If the fighters are fighting abroad, they need to pay international taxes, which could range from 12% to nearly 30%. This comes out of their paycheck even before they get the money from the UFC.
UFC pays for the fighter’s travel and accommodation, along with paying for one coach or corner man. For any elite fighter, it is important to have a couple of sparring partners/corner men/coaches, and while UFC pays for the fighter and one coach, it is usually the fighter who bears the expenses for the others.
All of these add up, and for someone like Cerrone, who is a top tier talent, it adds up to a considerable amount.
So considering all of the expenses mentioned above, Cerrone would’ve made $75,000 (money earned) + win bonus - $10,000 (training camp) - $10,000 (living/training expenses) - $2,000 (pre fight medicals) - $10,000 (expenses covered for his corner men) – $2,000 (Canadian taxes) – $2,000 (US taxes) – $5,000 (miscellaneous costs) =$34,000 (a generous estimate) + win bonus.
A top level fighter such as Cerrone breaks even, but making a profit of only 30,000$ (again, a generous estimate) and the win bonus, is a fair enough reason for Cowboy to get mad at the UFC brass. It would’ve been much worse had Cerrone not won the Performance of the Night bonus!
(The estimates were taken from an interview given by former UFC fighter John Cholish)
