USA TODAY Sports
Death, taxes, Donald Cerrone wanting money. Those are some constants you can count on. Cerrone keeps talking about his low pay mostly because he knows he skirts the line close to death on a consistent basis, and damn — he’s got taxes to pay. At the UFC Fight Night 89 post-fight press conference, Cerrone was enjoying his latest dominant win, this one over Patrick Cote and his second at welterweight in the UFC, but he was also thinking about cash.
” … According to my pay, I don’t mean sh*t to the UFC. But we’ll see. I’ll talk to Dana after this, and see if we can figure that out.”
In Cerrone’s last fight against Alex Oliveira he made $79K to show, $79K to win and got a Performance of The Night bonus to put him just over $200K for his first-round submission win. Not bad for less than three minutes of work. But still, Cerrone wants more. He’s stepped up for the UFC on short notice on multiple occasions, and at 33 years old and the wear is adding up on his tires, he wants to get paid now. However, UFC president Dana White, on Matt Serra and Jim Norton’s new podcast, doesn’t really think so.
“Cerrone at the press conference comes out and says, ‘I don’t know if the UFC loves me if you look at my paycheck. OK, me and Cerrone are as tight as tight can be. There’s a lot of personal stuff with me and Cerrone, too, on the positive side. But the kid made over $200,000 on a fight on free TV in the co-main event, and the gate was $900,000. I mean, how much money does Cerrone expect to make on a co-main event? The kid looks great. Never held a world title and made over 200 grand, co-main event, $900,000 gate on free TV.”
The explanation from Dana is absolutely appreciated. He didn’t have to discuss it, and he laid it all out on the line, but it’s not like the gate is the only thing the UFC is getting paid on. What about advertisements, merchandise and the money the UFC is making off Reebok? What about the in-cage sponsors? The Octagon sure looks like a cluttered pair of fighter shorts from back in the day.
So maybe Donald will get one of those fabled “locker-room bonuses” we hear about, or maybe he won’t. But Cerrone is one of the UFC’s most recognizable stars. He’s a lock for the UFC Hall of Fame, and will likely hold the record for most UFC wins by the time his career is a wrap, so should he get taken care of or not? He’s definitely a bigger draw than some of their champions (even long-time champs like Jose Aldo). If the UFC ever needs a draw to step up on next to zero notice, they’ll have to call Donald. And that means he’ll have to get paid, right?
Donald Cerr-oh-nay deserves to go get some.
(Via MMA Junkie)
