Image Credit: UFC.com
Sean O’Malley claims ‘Reebok made over a million dollars on all my merch, and I got like $3,000’
Sean O’Malley isn’t too pleased with Reebok and the deal they have with the UFC.
For many fighters, they have come out publicly and talked about how bad the Reebok deal is. Brendan Schaub for example, says he used to make $100,000 from sponsors and now fighters get around $5,000. What else is a bad deal for the fighters is the merchandise Reebok sells, like their fight kits. “Sugar” says his fight kits have made over a million dollars. Yet, he has only received $3,000 in his percentage of the cut.
“I got royalties from Reebok,” O’Malley said to Brendan Schaub on Food Truck Diaries. “If I read it right, which I think I did, and I even sent it to my dad like, ‘Did I read this right?’ and he said yes, so unless we both can’t read, Reebok made over a million dollars on all my merch, and I got like $3,000. I’m like, what the f*ck?
“It’s ridiculous. I thought I got 15 percent. And they’re like ‘Well, you get 15 percent of this. But, of this, and then these guys get it, and then you get 15 percent of that.’ I’m like holy s**t, you guys are f******g me. Then, they make all these sweet shirts on Reebok and I’m like, damn. I tell people, ‘Don’t buy that.”
Sean O’Malley is one of the UFC’s rising stars. He is coming off a highlight-reel first-round knockout win over Eddie Wineland at UFC 250. Before that, he scored another first-round knockout over Jose Quinonez at UFC 248 in his return to the Octagon after being sidelined due to a tainted supplement.
If O’Malley is telling the truth about what he has received from Reebok, it is terrible for the fighters. Many fighters have spoken up about fighter pay and this Reebok deal and what they receive may only add fuel to the fire.
