Middleweight fighter Brad Tavares celebrates his win over Nate Marquardt following their UFC182 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Friday, January 2, 2014.
Thursday, May 7, 2015 | 2 a.m.
The UFC’s announcement of fighter payout details in its new Reebok uniform deal dominated discussion in the mixed martial arts world Wednesday.
It was no different for local middleweight Brad Tavares, even though he was recovering from a 23-hour flight earlier in the week to Adelaide, Australia, for UFC Fight Night 65. Tavares (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) fights Australian native Robert Whittaker (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the co-main event of the card, which airs on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 4:40 p.m. Saturday evening.
“It’s good and bad,” Tavares said of the Reebok figures. “If it had been set for this fight, I’d be making more money off it because it’s a Fight Pass card and it’s hard to get sponsors to pay for a card that’s only shown on a website and out of the country.”
Fighters have always been tasked with rounding up their own sponsors, but that will end when the Reebok contract commences in July. The shoe company will become the exclusive sponsor of fighters, who will be paid based on how long they’ve been in the UFC.
Tavares would have made $10,000 in sponsorship money for the fight against Whittaker since he falls in the 11 to 15 appearances in the octagon category.
“If I compared it to my last fight or when I fought on the Fox card, I’d be making a third of what I made then,” Tavares said. “I’m sure it’s going to help a lot of guys out, but I feel like the champions and title challengers should make a lot more and I believe they are making a lot more now than what they’re going to make.”
Champions will receive $40,000 per fight, while challengers take home $30,000. Fighters with more than 21 bouts make $20,000, while those in the 16 to 20 range earn $16,000.
On the low end, fighters with one to five bouts get $2,500 before doubling at six through 10. Tavares
“As fighters, we pretty much only get paid when we fight, and it’s on us to get sponsors to help in the in-between with doing appearances, signings or whatever else,” Tavares said. “I really hope the in-between stuff doesn’t go away because we’ll need that.”
Check below for more of the Sun’s conversation with Tavares.
This is the 12th fight in your UFC career. You’re suddenly one of the division’s most tenured fighters. How’s it feel to be such an experienced veteran at 27 years old?
You know what’s crazy? This is the first time in my career that I’m fighting someone younger than me. That’s funny to me. Then I saw on Twitter this morning that I’m the most experienced guy on this card, which is crazy. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long or that many fights, but I guess it has been.
Did you see that you’ve never fought someone younger on Twitter too or did you know that yourself?
I put that together myself. I saw somewhere online they had us matched up and I was like, ‘He’s only 24 years old? I started thinking, have I ever fought someone younger than me?’ I went back through my entire career and realized this was the first time ever.
Obviously, it’s largely because you broke into the UFC faster than most fighters at 22 years old. Looking back, how did that benefit your career?
It’s definitely helped. I’ve spent the majority of my career fighting the best in the world. I look at guys with these huge records, 60-plus fights, and think to myself, ‘There’s no way they could have done this in the UFC, and there’s no way their record would be as good.’ You look at a lot of these guys’ records and a lot of their wins are against guys with a lot of losses. But I’ve spent a career making it in the pinnacle of the sport.
What did the win over Nate Marquardt at UFC 182 mean to you after a tough end to 2014?
Coming off two losses, a win, period, was big for me. But to do it against a guy like Nate Marquardt, a former top contender, was huge. He’s been around the sport for a long time, but I felt like I dominated the fight.
How do you break down the upcoming title fight in your division, Chris Weidman versus Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 in a couple of weeks?
Weidman has proven he’s good all around, but Vitor definitely has an advantage in the striking. Weidman is a boxer, kicks a little bit but ultimately sets everything up with his wrestling. He has great grappling. I think he needs to mix it up, get takedowns and ground fight as much as he can. But Vitor will want to keep it standing and if he doesn’t get taken down, he’ll have a great shot.
How often did you train with Belfort when he was based in Las Vegas?
When I first moved out there, he was there and I trained with him both at Tapout (Training Center) with (the late coach Shawn) Tompkins and at Xtreme Couture. Vitor became a personal friend of mine, and I wish him the best in the fight.
Will you be around for UFC 187?
No, I’ve got some family stuff in Hawaii, so I’ll be back in Hawaii after this fight.
You’re always identified as Hawaiian fighter. Is that meaningful to you?
There’s no place I would rather be. If Kailua was more affordable and there were a bunch of bigger guys fighting in my weight that I could train with, I would move back. But when people ask me where I’m from or where I live, it’s always Hawaii. Even since I moved to Vegas it’s been that way. I spend about half the year in Hawaii still. I’m proud to be from Hawaii and represent Hawaii. I want to make the people from Hawaii proud.
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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