FABRICIO WERDUM FIRED FROM THE UFC BROADCAST TEAM FOR HIS COMMENTS ABOUT REEBOK
Las Vegas, NV (October 29th, 2016)– Fabricio Werdum made Instagram posts critical about Reebok and was fired today from his Spanish commentary team for UFC broadcasts.
Werdum’s comments stemmed from his displeasure with the current sponsorship situation with Reebok. In the past fighters were allowed to make more money with multiple sponsorship deals in the Octagon and during Fight Week.
Werdum claimed many other fighter are also upset with the limitations of the Reebok sponsorship deal. Here is what Werdum had to say below.
“I won’t go (back) after this,” Werdum said. “It’s the second time it has happened. I didn’t go to (film in) Colombia once before because my wife had dengue and then I was on vacation, but they didn’t understand me and took me off of [the broadcast]. I asked Dana White and he put me back on. And now because of this post.
“I don’t have anything with Reebok, only during the fight. They can do anything. Did a post? Lose your job as commentator. If I had lost it because I was doing a poor job and nobody likes me, fine, but I know it’s not the case. I know I was doing a good job because I get messages from all Latin America saying that, and I have already received messages from people saying they will cancel the channel now.”
After news broke of his removal, Werdum had another post on Instagram.
He said that he used to earn anywhere from $100,000 to $200,000 in sponsorships per fight prior to the Reebok deal, and now that number is limited to just $5,000 due to the UFC-Reebok wage scale, which bases fighter earnings on length of tenure with the promotion. Werdum said that after fighting for over 15 years, he doesn’t believe it is fair for an athlete of his level to be earning such a low income from sponsorships.
Werdum is still the number 1 ranked heavyweight in the UFC, and is set to face fellow former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 207 in a rematch. The event will take place on Friday, December 30th in Las Vegas, NV.
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