Joseph Benavidez, den före detta titelutmanaren i flugvikt går mot strömmen och berättar varför han tycker att avtalet med Reebok är fantastiskt.
Det nya avtalet UFC har med Reebok har blivit hårt kritiserat av många fighters i UFC för undermålig kompensation. Många har efter att avtalet avslöjades för offentligheten sökt sig mot juridisk rådgivning och det har i missnöjet diskuterats ett behov av en fackförening för fighters i UFC. Vissa menar till och med att avtalet är könsdiskriminerande.
Joseph Benavidez är däremot en snubbe, kanske den enda snubben, som ser avtalet vara till hans fördel. Han berättar under en intervju att det nya avtalet faktiskt kommer att vara till stor finansiell hjälp för honom då sponsringspengar varit utom räckhåll:
”Oh, well two aspects; for me the numbers are great because I’m a veteran and because I wasn’t getting any money for sponsorships before,” Berättar Benavidez i en intervju med submission radio. ”Like I’m in the 15 grand sponsorship tier I think for two more fights. And I don’t remember the last fight where I got 15 grand in sponsorships in a fight. And I don’t know if that’s the sponsors I was getting, or the managers I had or whatever. Because I was surprised when other people who weren’t as highly ranked as me or maybe as popular, saying ”oh I got way more and that’s not going to cut it. I was getting this much more for fighting”. It was surprising. But for me, the money aspect works for me. But that’s not going to work for everyone.”
Trots att Benavidez välkomnar den nya dealen ignorerar han inte det faktum att avtalet är en nackdel för många som påverkas negativt ekonomiskt:
”I know that’s not going to work for a big percentage of the guys. For a small percentage of the guys it’s going to work financially, and I’m one of them. So I can’t complain about that. But as far as the deal as a whole, no matter where you’re at, whether it’s positive, or negative, money-wise, I just think it’s the right thing moving forward. And it just legitimizes the sport even more as far as bigger endorsements coming in and everything else. It’s just at that time in the sport where there’s changes going on, we happen to be a part of it. You know, this sport’s still young. So that’s how some of the guys need to look at it. Whether you’re missing out on money or not, in a few years, new guys coming in, they won’t even think twice about it because that’s the way it is. In 10 years and 20 years, that’s the way it is. You know, you come in a s a rookie, you come in as this, and this is what you get paid. But I think it’s the right thing to do, regardless of people’s money in this and that. For moving forward for the sport as a whole, you know it’s just the right decision.”
